Septia Ryanthie, Imaji Lasahido (Intern), Karanganyar – The arrival of the leading candidate for the NasDem party, Anies Baswedan, at a wedding reception for the first daughter of a lecturer at the Economics and Business faculty of Sebelas Maret University (UNS), Lukman Hakim Hasan in Solo, on Sunday, December 25, 2022, was welcomed with acts of rejection from protesters calling themselves the MKS or Masyarakat Kota Solo (Solo City Community), who consider Anies' arrival at the event as a covert campaign.

The rejection of Anies was carried out by dozens of MKS protesters around the Ayam-Ayam Restaurant in Klodran, Colomadu District, Karanganyar Regency. The restaurant is one of the locations that held the wedding celebration for the first daughter of Lukman Hakim.

The MKS rallied while holding several written cardboard concerning rejection toward Anies.

"Reject Anies Baswedan's covert campaign," "Solo people reject Anies Baswedan," "Reject Anies Baswedan, Father of Identity Politics," said the written signs that they holding.

The field coordinator of the action, Krisna, considers a figure like Anies set a bad example of democracy.

"In our opinion, Anies Baswedan has set a bad example for democracy in Indonesia. He carried out covert campaign in various regions under the guise of a political safari," he said in his oration.

According to him, Anies should have received a 'red card' for stealing the campaign start. Thus, making the democratic climate of Indonesia unhealthy.

"This can damage the democracy of Indonesia. He hasn't done anything, yet already stole the campaign start," he said.

Lukman Hakim, the organizer of the wedding, admitted that he was not aware that there was an action against Anies that day.

"No, I didn't see (the action by the protesters) earlier," said Lukman who is also general chairman of the Tax basis for Anies Baswedan National Volunteer Network (Jarnas).

Lukman Hakim explained that Anies Baswedan's arrival to Solo that day was to fulfil his invitation to attend Lukman's first daughter's wedding. He said the weddings were held in two separate places, namely at the Graha Saba Buana Building and Ayam-Ayam Restaurant.

He stated that the majority of the guests who attended the wedding at the second location were friends from alumni of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta, where Lukman and Anies had studied as undergrads. Apart from that, there were also activists from several organizations and volunteers who support Anies that came from various regions in Indonesia.

According to Lukman Hakim, the event was only a gathering place, and at the same time, a reunion for him and his guests.

"Of course, this is for my first daughter's wedding celebration, as well as a gathering to be in touch with friends from UGM, Muslim Students' Association (HMI), and Jarnas from various regions," he said.

Responding to the action of rejection by the MKS, Lukman Hakim considered this as a normal occurrence in democracy. He admitted that there were indeed many similar rejections of Anies that emerged in some regions.

"Action like this has happened, not only in Solo. In my opinion, this is a common thing that tends to happen in our competition in practical politics, where there will be differences of opinion and so on," said Lukman.

Lukman suspects the rejection was due to various factors.

"From my experience in some places, it can be by design, or some don't have the liking to a certain party or association and so on. In principle, Anies and I are unconcerned in a democratic climate, people are allowed to disagree," he said.

In response to the action, Lukman Hakim chose not to pay attention to it. "Just let it be, we can't prohibit people from holding protests, expressing their feelings and so on," he said.

Since stepping down from his position as Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan has indeed been keen to organize political safaris in various regions. Anies was also complained by the Secretary General of the Indonesian Collaborative Secretariat (SKI), Raharja Waluya Jati. He considered that Anies' political safari trips were unethical and appeared to have stolen the campaign start. However, the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) consider that Anies method does not violate any rules for the campaign.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1672425/anies-baswedans-arrival-in-solo-welcomed-with-protes