#KitaIndonesia unity rally marred by politics, infighting, and litter

Following the mass rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama on December 2 (which was, by all accounts, actually “super peaceful”), another rally was carried out on Sunday during Car Free Day (CFD) in Jakarta, in what is seen as the direct response to 212.

Dubbed #KitaIndonesia (#WeAreIndonesia), thousands gathered around the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout to celebrate Indonesia’s unity and diversity. Unfortunately, the event was marred by incidents that has the media questioning if the organizers and attendees of the rally had their hearts in the right place.

First, political parties Golkar and NasDem, both of which are in coalition with President Jokowi’s government and officially support Ahok’s candidacy in next year’s election, seemed to endorse the event as their party leaders were in attendance. The two parties’ flags and attributes were also ubiquitous during the event.

Political rallies are actually forbidden from CFD, which is stated in a Gubernatorial Decree passed by Ahok himself. Acting Governor Sumarsono, who is running the Jakarta Provincial Government while Ahok is on a legally mandated leave for his election campaign, also warned against any politics in CFD prior to the rally. He said he would file written warnings to those who violated the decree.

“It will be sent to the parties that flew their flags [during the rally], so that in the future they would respect the governor’s decree,” Sumarsono said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.

The embarrassments for Golkar do not end there. Fayakhun Andriadi, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) for Golkar, reported another Golkar member and two of his accomplices to the police for allegedly assaulting him following the rally.

According to the police, the assailants, identified by their initials FE, AH and NH, attacked Fayakhun at a café in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The police did not confirm media reports that Fayakhun became the target of assault because he failed to bring enough attendants to the rally, an accusation that would lend credence to rumors that many of the rally’s attendants were paid to be there.

Last but not least, there were also numerous reports that the attendants left behind heaps of trash and trampled plants around the location. The Jakarta Sanitary Agency said that cleaners collected 44 tons of litter from yesterday’s rally. While smaller than the 200 tons of litter left behind by 212 attendants, it should be noted that 212 was much larger in scale, with reports estimating that around 200,000 people attended the rally, compared to the several thousand for #KitaIndonesia. 



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