On May 21, the final count in Indonesia’s election was released, showing that incumbent President Joko Widodo won with a 10 percentage point lead. But his opponent, former General Prabowo Subianto, claims there was “massive cheating and widespread fraud,” and his supporters are calling for a “people power” movement to dispute the official results.
Thousands of people gathered to protest the results in front of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) office and several areas in Central Jakarta. The political opposition called for two days of mass protest.
The protest soon turned violent, as people threw stones at police officers decked out in riot gear. Some protesters burned car tires, filling the air with black smoke. Using a water bomb from a helicopter, the police tried to extinguish the fire and disperse the crowd. At another area, the mob stormed the police housing complex and set fire to a number of vehicles. Police used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse the rioters.
As of Wednesday evening, authorities said they had the situation under control. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said that six people had died, and more than 200 others were injured due to riot. The cause of the deaths is being investigated by authorities.
Agoes Rudianto is a Jakarta-based independent photographer.