Jakarta police say they are prepared for unrest as residents head to one of the most bitterly fought elections the city has ever seen. In a sign of the potential threat, a mass of more than 64,000 police, soldiers and security offices will be deployed across the capital. Indonesia’s police chief has warned against the intimidation of voters with the poll being heavily fought on religious grounds. At the capital’s national monument, known as Monas, officers rehearse drills ahead of the poll. “The brief to us is to control the crowd,” commander Muhammad Alwafi told the ABC.
Police chief Tito Karnavian has made it clear he would not tolerate harassment of voters as they go about their democratic right.
The biggest threat is coming from ultra conservative Islamic groups who want the incumbent Governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian best known as Ahok, jailed for blasphemy and insist a non-Muslim cannot lead a majority Muslim city.