Governor-elect Anies Baswedan isn’t going to be officially appointed until October, but it seems he’s already made a pretty outspoken critic out of this one woman on a motorcycle.
Yesterday, Indonesian gossip/meme social media aggregator Mak Lambe Turah posted this video of the unnamed woman, who appeared to be sitting on the passenger seat of the motorcycle, ranting about Anies’ black Toyota Innova being escorted by the police through a crowded street in Jakarta.
In the short video, the woman can be heard saying, “There, that’s Anies’ car. He doesn’t want to queue (in traffic) like everyone else. He’s not even governor yet and he’s already setting a bad example. Look at this, I’m tailing him. This is not right. You’re not even governor yet, and already your car is tat tit tat tit (honking sound) asking for way, as if you’re the president.”
Despite her rant, she did seem to appreciate Anies’ car paving the way for her through the crowded street.
“As for me, I’m happy to be tailing from behind. Ha ha ha,” she said.
After the video went viral, Anies’ campaign spokesperson Naufal Firman Yursak said Anies’ car was being escorted in accordance to existing laws and regulations.
“That was a one-way street, so the whole street can be driven on,” he told Kompas yesterday evening.
Naufal also took a swipe at the woman, who can be seen, in a reflection of the motorcycle’s side view mirror, not wearing a helmet and thus breaking the law.
To be fair to Anies, it’s well within the law for government officials (or anyone who can afford it) to use a police escort to beat traffic jams in the city, as unfair as that is. However, officials might want to learn a thing or two from President Jokowi, who, despite being the leader of the country, has on several occasions been spotted stuck in traffic with everyone else despite having police escorts himself.
