Tag: Joko Widodo

Jokowi Meets Kofi Annan To Discuss Myanmar

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held a meeting with former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday to discuss humanitarian aid for the Rohingya people in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

The 30-minute bilateral meeting took place before the President officially opened the ninth Bali Democracy Forum, in which Annan, who served as UN secretary-general from 1997 to 2006, became the keynote speaker.

Annan, who founded the Kofi Annan Foundation, is now the head of the Advisory Committee for Rakhine State. During the meeting, he explained to Jokowi his findings during his visit to the conflict area and advised countries to take urgent steps to help victims of the humanitarian crisis.

“Indonesia will soon dispatch humanitarian aid for the Rohingya people. I have ordered the relevant ministers to prepare the necessary logistics, especially food and blankets,” Jokowi said after the meeting.

Accompanying the President at the meeting, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Annan appreciated the Indonesian government for taking prompt action to provide humanitarian assistance for victims in the troubled state.

“In the longer term, we will also support Myanmar in terms of providing capacity building in the field of good governance, democracy and human rights. We have started these programs and will continue to do that, because it is very important,” she explained, citing results of her recent discussion with Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Delegations from 94 countries and observers from several organizations are attending the two-day conference to discuss democracy, religious tolerance and pluralism and strengthen global cooperation.

Source: The Jakarta Post

December 12, 2016
Jakarta Anti-Governor Protest: Cars Burnt, 1 Dead And Many Injured

Indonesian police have used tear gas and water cannon to subdue protesters as thousands of hard-line Muslims marched against Jakarta’s governor.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, is the first ethnic Chinese to hold the governor’s post in the capital of majority Muslim Indonesia.

The demonstrators accuse him of having insulted Islam’s holy book, the Koran, and want him to be prosecuted.

Clashes broke out between police and protesters who refused to disperse.

One elderly man died, the Associated Press reports, citing police. Several other people, including police officers, have been injured.

Protesters had earlier marched upon the presidential palace.

Police had been braced for the possibility of religious and racial tensions erupting at the rally, which an estimated 50,000 people attended.

It had mostly been peaceful but groups of angry demonstrators clashed with police after nightfall and set vehicles alight.

In 1998, a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment led to mobs looting and burning Chinese-owned shops and houses. Ethnic Chinese make up about 1% of Indonesia’s population of 250 million people.

The protest was held to demand that Mr Purnama be prosecuted for blasphemy over comments he made in September that were seen as criticising a Koranic verse.

He said that Islamic groups using a passage of the Koran to urge people not to support him were deceiving voters, who will go to the polls in February.

The verse is interpreted by some as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim.

Mr Purnama has since apologised but formal complaints were lodged against him by Islamic groups for defamation. He is now being investigated by police.

Who is Governor Ahok?

Some protesters at Friday’s rally carried signs calling for the governor’s death, the BBC’s Rebecca Henschke in Jakarta says.

Representatives met with Vice-President Yusuf Kalla, who promised that the investigation into Mr Purnama would be completed within two weeks.

There have long been tensions around Mr Purnama political role.

In 2014, he was the deputy governor under Joko Widodo. When Mr Widodo was elected president the main group behind the current protest – Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) – did not want Mr Purnama to succeed him.

They argued that a Christian should not govern a Muslim-majority city. The campaign against him has since taken on anti-Chinese overtones, though the FPI said the rally was not about the governor being from a minority group.

Jakarta police said there were “provocative statements and images” on social media urging people to take violent action against Mr Purnama, including calls to kill him.

Despite being seen as brash and outspoken, the governor is popular among many in the capital and has been praised for his effectiveness.

Muslims in Indonesia are largely moderate and the country’s largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, had advised its 40 million members not to take part in the protest.

Source: www.bbc.com

November 5, 2016
Indonesia President Joko: Chemical Castration Will “Wipe Out” Paedophilia

Indonesia could “wipe out” paedophilia with its new policy of chemical castration, President Joko Widodo has told the BBC.

He said Indonesia respected human rights but there would be “no compromise” when it came to punishing such sexual crimes.

Indonesia passed controversial laws earlier this month authorising chemical castration for paedophiles.

The laws were subject to fierce debate in parliament.

The Indonesian Doctors Association says its members should not be involved as the procedure would violate medical ethics.

Chemical castration is the use of drugs to reduce sex drive and libido, without sterilisation or removing organs.

The paedophiles who want treatment

President Widodo said “our constitution respects human rights, but when it comes to sexual crimes there is no compromise”.

“We are strong and we will be very firm. We will hand out the maximum penalty for sexual crimes.”

He added: “In my opinion… chemical castration, if we enforce it consistently, will reduce sex crimes and wipe them out over time.”

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Yalda Hakim, President Widodo – also known as Jokowi – discussed topics including the South China Sea, corruption, a recent tax amnesty and the government’s stance on homosexuality.

Earlier this month, an advert for a new youth ambassador position stipulated that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community need not apply.

The government advert said the post was only open to applicants not involved in “sexually deviant behaviour”.

President Widodo said there was no discrimination against minorities, but he added: “We are the world’s largest Muslim nation and we have religious norms. You have to remember that and know that. We have social norms.”

Source: www.bbc.com

October 20, 2016
Backlash In Indonesia Over Ramadan Raid On Frail Auntie, Over $20,000 Donations Raised

JAKARTA: Indonesian netizens have reacted with fury and a flurry of donations after footage emerged of a frail food seller breaking down as her cafe was raided for staying open during the daytime in Ramadan.

Video of the 53-year-old business owner desperately begging officials not to confiscate her food went viral at the weekend, and social media users have donated almost $20,000 to a crowdfunding site to help her and other vendors.

It is common for food outlets in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that remain open during the daytime in the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are supposed to fast from sunrise to sunset, to be raided.

But the case of food seller Saeni, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has touched a nerve, with many criticising authorities for being heavy-handed during the raid in Serang, west of the capital Jakarta.

“You should be tolerant towards those who are not fasting, cruel authorities,” wrote Facebook user Elisabeth Oktofani.

The food seller was deeply in debt and so had decided to keep the cafe open during daylight hours to make extra cash, she was quoted by local media as saying.

President Joko Widodo condemned the raid and ordered his staff to make a personal donation, with his spokesman saying that the action “cannot be justified”.

In the footage, a group of public order officers, who assist police in maintaining order but have fewer powers, march into the small food outlet, which consisted of a few goods in a glass case and some shabby chairs and tables.

Saeni, wearing a blue Muslim headscarf, begs them not to take the food but they put it into plastic bags and march off.

Local authorities defended the raid, saying that the food seller was breaking the law. While many restaurants in bigger cities stay open throughout Ramadan, local bylaws in smaller places often forbid vendors to sell food during the daytime.

A crowdfunding campaign launched in response to Friday’s raid has raised over 265 million rupiah ($19,900), with the organisers planning to distribute the money to Saeni and other food sellers targeted for staying open during daylight hours in Ramadan.

Most Indonesians practise a moderate form of Islam, but the country is also home to a vocal, hardline fringe.

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

June 14, 2016
Indonesian Coordinating Minister For Politics, Law and Security: Singapore’s One Aircraft Offer Is “Insulting”

JAKARTA — Singapore’s offer in September of only “one aircraft” to Indonesia to help fight forest fires that have caused thick haze to descend around the region was “insulting”, said Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Speaking in an interview last Friday (Oct 16) with the country’s Tempo magazine, Mr Luhut defended Indonesia’s perceived tardiness in putting out the fires and in accepting foreign aid.

“During the dry season, peatlands tend to be very flammable. When we bombard the land with water to put out the flames, they just come out again. So I get a headache when people get upset. What are we supposed to do?” he replied when asked why this year’s forest fires are worse than those of last year’s.

“Then someone asks why we didn’t accept the assistance offered earlier. There are many reasons for that. Firstly, we wanted to try and do it on our own. Secondly, we didn’t realise the process would be so long. Thirdly, (Singapore) offered only one aircraft. It was insulting.”

In September, Singapore offered a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations, a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial fire-fighting, and up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry the Singapore Civil Defence Force fire-fighting assistance team.

Mr Luhut’s comments in the latest issue of the magazine came after Indonesia finally accepted help from Singapore on Oct 7 after repeatedly declining offers of help for weeks. Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen had even flown to Jakarta at the end of September to meet his Indonesian counterpart at one of the meetings. During his visit, Dr Ng also met Mr Luhut.

On October 11, aircraft from Singapore and Malaysia began water-bombing missions to put out the raging fires in South Sumatra.

Singapore sent a Republic of Singapore Armed Forces (RSAF) Chinook helicopter with a 5,000-litre heli-bucket and 34 SAF personnel to help fight the ongoing forest fires, together with a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport SAF and SCDF personnel.

In an interview on Oct 7, Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told CNN Indonesia that Jakarta had earlier rejected Singapore’s offers of assistance because it was concerned that the city state would claim credit for solving the problem, despite being worried about the rapidly deteriorating situation.

In the Tempo interview, Mr Luhut also pledged to confiscate the land and revoke the licences of big companies that practise illegal burning next year.

“This haze problem is also about injustice. When a company controls 2.8 million hectares of land, where is the justice? Then there are those who own 600,000 hectares of land but own not a single fire extinguisher. Should the government be dousing fires all the time? If we call it a national disaster, they will benefit by it.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 22, 2015