Christians Pray As Indonesia Descents Into Chaos Over Election Reforms

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Christians in Indonesia appealed for prayers Tuesday as security forces crushed nationwide protests against attempts by parliamentary allies of outgoing President Joko Widodo to change regional election legislation in their favor.

Hundreds of protesters were detained and assaulted, reporters said, with at least 28 people reportedly injured as police used batons, tear gas, and water cannons to disperse crowds.

Despite the crackdown by government security forces, thousands if protesters tried to pressure Indonesia’s voting authority to issue regional election rules.

At least 301 people were believed to have been detained with tear gas and water cannon used to disperse angry crowds outside parliament in Jakarta.

Advocacy group Amnesty International Indonesia said it also noticed police brutality as protests spread across several cities, including Jakarta, the capital, and Bandung in West Java, as well as Semarang in Central Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi.

“Through the evening, many rally participants were arrested and treated in ways that do not reflect professional law enforcement,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

Hamid added that police should have only used their power to protect and save lives.

CHRISTIANS CONCERNED

The standoff raised concerns among minority Christians in Indonesia, who Islamic extremists have also targeted. Victoria, a Christian house church leader and evangelist, said she hopes “the riots of 1998 will not happen again.”

The house church leader, whose full name is known to Worthy News, recalled what is also known locally as the “1998 Tragedy,” in which more than 1,000 people reportedly died in riots.

At least 168 cases of rape were reported, and material damage was valued at more than $260 million, according to researchers.

The 1998 unrest was triggered by corruption and economic problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment. It eventually led to the resignation of long-time authoritarian President Suharto and the fall of his “New Order” government, which had been in power for 32 years.

The main targets of the violence were ethnic Chinese Indonesians, but most of the casualties were caused by a massive fire and occurred among looters, researchers say.

As of 2010, legal proceedings regarding the riots were reportedly stalled and not completed. “Pray for Indonesia,” Victoria told Worthy News.

Tuesday’s rallies came after similar protests last week when Indonesia’s parliament shelved plans to overturn a top court ruling on voting procedures after thousands protested and clashed with riot police.

CONSOLIDATED INFLUENCE

If implemented, the changes could further consolidate the political influence of President Widodo, who has been accused of placing family members and friends in key positions.

Worthy News learned that concerned minority Christians have been holding prayer meetings for the country, including in unregistered house church groups.

The legislature, dominated by supporters of outgoing President Widodo and his successor, Prabowo Subianto, was scheduled to vote to reverse changes to election laws made by the constitutional court.

The court ruling effectively reopened the possibility of a vocal government critic running in regional elections.

Parties backing Prabowo had earlier rallied behind a single candidate for the influential post of Jakarta governor, killing off chances of the president-elect’s rival, Anies Baswedan, from running.

At the time, Anies needed the backing of a party or a coalition of parties with at least 20 percent of seats in the local parliament, under rules for regional elections in place since 2016.

However, last week’s Constitutional Court ruling lowered the threshold to under 10 percent, allowing Anies to be nominated by the party that had not named a candidate, PDIP.

PREVIOUS THRESHOLD

The national parliament sought to return to the previous threshold, contradicting the country’s highest court in a move critics said would favor the outgoing president and his allies and freeze any opposition.

Indonesia’s government also tries to circumvent the Constitutional Court’s decision to uphold the current minimum age limit of 30 for candidates.

That would bar Widodo’s 29-year-old son, Kaesang Pangarep, from running in a regional contest in Central Java. Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is the incoming vice president who ran alongside Prabowo.

Widodo has downplayed the dispute, saying the amendments were part of the “checks and balances” of government, but large crowds, many of them students, strongly disagreed.

Amid the chaos, journalists have been targeted, including on Tuesday when police used force against reporters covering the protests. Since last week, more than a dozen journalists were arrested, including 12 who “were assaulted” by members of the Indonesian Republic Police (Polri) as they covered widespread protests against plans to change election legislation, sources said.

Most were detained in Jakarta, the capital, and the city of Bandung, according to advocacy group Reporters without Borders, also known as RSF, in comments obtained by Worthy News.

“We call on Indonesian authorities to conduct transparent and independent investigations into these acts of violence and guarantee the protection of journalists in the course of their work,” said Cédric Alviani, RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau director.

“Nothing justifies this police brutality against journalists, as well as the damage to their equipment.”

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