Abdul Haris Maulana, Jakarta – Supporters of the winning presidential and vice presidential ticket number 2, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, also held an action in the Horse Statue area of Gambir, Central Jakarta, on Friday April 19.
Based on observations by Kompas.com, the Prabowo-Gibran supporters held the protest action on the left side of the Horse Statue, right in front of the National Monument (Monas) police post.
The majority of the Prabowo-Gibran supporters wore T-shirts and jeans, although there were some that wore almamater university jackets.
The demonstration by the Prabowo-Gibran supporters was held across from a protest action demanding that the Constitutional Court take a just and truthful position in resolving the 2024 elections.
"Let them over there scream and shout, we here are dancing", shouted a speaker from the Prabowo-Gibran supporters. The protest was also equipped with several command vehicles and they brought a banner with several messages.
Kompas.com interviewed several of the people from the Prabowo-Gibran supporters on the demands taken up by their action.
However the people who were interviewed did not know what they were calling for. "I don't know, ask the head [of the action]", said one of the Prabowo-Gibran supporters.
One of the other people interviewed who claimed to be a Prabowo-Gibran supporter also stated that they did not know the contents of the action demands. "I'm not a student, just an ordinary person. I was just invited to come along", they said.
"I just went along with it, but we weren’t paid, this was from our conscience", said another person who claimed to be a supporter of Prabowo-Gibran.
Earlier, the demonstrations at the Horse Statue were marred by people throwing things at each other.
Initially, the protest demanding the Constitutional Court take a fair and truthful position proceeded in an orderly manner. The situation then became heated when a group arrived and occupied the left side of the Horse Statue, right in front of the Monas police post.
The identity of the newly arrived group is still not known but they are understood to be Prabowo-Gibran supporters. They appeared to be made up of young people wearing ordinary clothing and were equipped with a command vehicle.
It is unknown what the exact cause was, but the crowd that had already been demonstrating began throwing a number of objects at the group that had just arrived, ranging from mineral water bottles to stones and chunks of soil.
By 4.32 the atmosphere at the Horse Statue was conducive with the two side continuing their protest actions with their respective demands.
Meanwhile the Prabowo-Gibran supporters called for the 2024 election vote to be safeguarded.
"Safeguard the Prabowo-Gibran vote. 96.2 million people voted from their hearts, not because of social assistance", read the message on the banner brought by the Prabowo-Gibran supporters.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Massa Pendukung Prabowo-Gibran Juga Demo di Patung Kuda, tapi Beberapa Orang Tak Tahu Isi Tuntutan".]
