Episode 70: Post-Election Riots Post-Mortem

Dialogika Podcast

In this episode, we recap the recent riots in Jakarta following the official announcement of Jokowi’s victory over Prabowo in the 2019 presidential election and break down the events and our responses to them. The KPU or General Elections Commissions officially announced last week that Jokowi has won the election by 55.5% or 85,607,362 votes, to Prabowo’s 44.5% or 68,650,239 votes — a difference of around 17 million votes. As anticipated, protesters began to gather outside the Bawaslu or Election Supervisory Body office in Central Jakarta and violent clashes occurred over the course of a few days, resulting in at least 6 deaths and hundreds injured. This all happen during the week of the anniversary of the May 1998 riots, and we share our feelings about the eerie coincidence. We also discuss the government’s decision to slow down social media platforms like WhatsApp in order to prevent the spread of fake news, misinformation, and hoaxes — and our complicated feelings about that particular decision. Finally, we give a shout-out to all the journalists, activists, lawyers, and others who have been on the frontlines in reporting the situation on the ground and keeping people accountable!