Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has claimed that the ongoing wave of demonstrations has been "taken over" by groups whose final aim is to thwart the inauguration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
At a press conference at his office in Central Jakarta on Thursday, Wiranto said the government appreciated the rallies held by university students across the country, as they were intended to "correct government and House of Representatives policies."
He claimed, however, that the President and the House had already met the students' demands by postponing a number of bills deemed to be problematic.
"But we regret that constructive, elegant demonstrations have been taken over by demonstrations that are not directed toward the concerns that have been answered by the government and the House," he said.
"We have enough evidence that [the groups that have taken over the protests] want to occupy the House and the People's Consultative Assembly, so that they cannot carry out their duties," he continued, "meaning that they want to prevent the inauguration of House members. Furthermore, they also want to prevent the President from being inaugurated."
Wiranto did not reveal any evidence for his claims.
He added that "radical Islamic groups" would be part of a "new wave" of protests and that other elements of society, ranging from soccer fans to ojek (motorbike taxi) drivers may become involved. "Don't let [yourselves] be influenced by those who want to create chaos," he said.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, who was also at the press conference, said there were "political agendas" behind the rioting that occurred in the past two days and compared it with the post-election riots that gripped Jakarta in May.
"There are parties that are taking advantage of the situation for their own agenda, with a political goal [...] to depose the constitutionally legitimate government," he said. (kmt)