Jakarta – Jakarta Metro Jaya regional police chief Gatot Eddy Pramono has emphasised that they will not issue permits for people wanting to hold protests in Jakarta. The ban will remain in place from Tuesday October 15 through to the inauguration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President elect Ma’ruf Amin on Sunday October 20.
“I anyone submits a written notification that they will be hold [a demonstration] to convey their aspirations, we will not issue a notification of receipt. Starting tomorrow this will be in force until October 20”, said Pramono at the House of Representatives (DPR) and People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday October 14.
“After that [people] will be allowed to convey their aspirations. So it’s up to our discretion”, he added.
Furthermore, Pramono stated that this discretionary measure on the part of security forces is necessary so that the inauguration of the president and vice president elect proceeds under a conducive and respectful atmosphere.
Moreover, he said, this is because several foreign heads of state and ambassadors from neighbouring countries will attend the inauguration. “We will respect this so our nation will be known as civilised and refined because it will be seen by the world”, he said.
In addition to this, Pramono said that the TNI (Indonesian military) will be heading up security during the inauguration. Police, he said, will support the TNI during the operation.
“Security will be led by Bapak [Mr] Pangdam [the Jakarta regional military commander] because this applies to protap Waskita [presidential security]. The Polda Metro [Jakarta regional police] will be backed up by the Mabes Polri [Indonesian police headquarters], we will fully back this activity”, he added.
Also speaking at the parliamentary complex, Jakarta military commander Eko Magiyono emphasised that if an action is held to coincide with the inauguration of the president and vice president it will be treated as an illegal act. He asserted that they not be providing permits to hold demonstrations on that day.
“We are just appealing to protesters so that no one tries to approach the DPR/MPR building”, said Magiyono.
DPR Speaker Puan Maharani meanwhile explained that 30,000 TNI and Polri (Indonesian police) personnel will be deployed in the vicinity of the MPR/DPR building to safeguard the inauguration. She said that security personnel will be formed into two security rings.
“There will be around 30 thousand personnel from the TNI and Polri. They will be deployed in ring 1 and ring 2 so that the implementation will be regulated so that it can proceed properly”, said Maharani. (rzr)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Polisi Larang Demo Sampai Pelantikan Jokowi-Ma’ruf 20 Oktober”.]
