If you’ve been following the region’s EDM news, you’d know that the biggest festival of the genre in Asia, the Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP), is returning to Jakarta this weekend after it was held in Bali last year.
But, just like two years ago, not everyone is happy about that.
Yesterday, dozens of protesters claiming to be from a group named Indonesia Pribumi Movement (pribumi being a term that could be loosely defined as “native Indonesians”) staged a protest outside City Hall demanding that Governor Anies Baswedan cancel DWP on the grounds that it violates traditional norms.
“The pribumi are a victorious race and the race that built the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, which adheres to Eastern values and loves the morals and cultures of its own ancestors,” protest leader Abdurahman said, as quoted by Tirto, implying that DWP promoted liberal western values that are incompatible with Indonesia.
Abdurahman also demanded that Anies keep his campaign promise of cracking down on immorality and debauchery in Jakarta.
“If that commitment is betrayed, then we ask that Anies step down as governor,” he said.
The protest reportedly lasted around 30 minutes.
Anies refused to field questions about the protesters’ demand today.
A similar protest against DWP was held two years ago — the last time it was held in Jakarta — but the festival went ahead as planned after Anies promised that the event would follow Eastern norms in that there won’t be alcohol or bikinis.
