A number of people from the Civil Society Movement to Safe Indonesian Democracy held a demonstration in front of the General Elections commission (KPU) offices on Jalan Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta on Monday February 19.
As a result of the action, two lanes on Jalan Imam Bonjol were closed off at 2pm with barriers guarded by police, and traffic had to be redirected.
The demonstrators urged the KPU to act honestly and fairly in the 2024 elections and said that the cases of alleged electoral fraud that have occurred were due to the KPU's failures in organising the five-yearly contestation.
The protesters also demanded that KPU Chairperson Hasyim Asyari be removed from his position. They accused Asyari of being a Palace lackey who smoothed the way for presidential ticket number 2, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to win the election.
"The Republic has been subverted, KPU Chairperson Hasyim Asyari resign", said one of the speakers from the command vehicle on Monday.
The demonstrators also brought a banner containing criticisms of the KPU. Others also brought yellow flags (symbolising death). "Fight the robbers of democracy", said the protesters.
In addition to this, they also questioned the Information Recapitulation System (Sirekap) used by the KPU for the recapitulation of votes. They believe that electoral fraud has occurred in the form of transferring votes from presidential tickets number 1 and 2 to presidential ticket number 2.
Meanwhile, marching from the direction of the nearby Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to Jalan Imam Bonjol, a group of protesters calling themselves the Student Alliance to Safeguard Indonesia also arrived to convey their views.
In contrast to the other group, they expressed support for the KPU continuing the election process currently taking place without being intimidated.
"We have decided to hold to the commitment that lately there has been a driving of opinion to reject or not to trust the KPU in terms of the ongoing vote calculations", said one of the protesters from a command vehicle.
Aside from the protest actions in front of the KPU, there will also be demonstrations held today at the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) office on Jalan M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Dua Kubu Berbeda Unjuk Rasa di Depan Kantor KPU, Jalan Imam Bonjol Ditutup".]
