Muslim Students Union Rejects Prabowo's Call for People Power

TEMPO.CO, Bogor - A number of student elements, initiated by the Indonesian Muslim Student Union (SEMMI), calls on the public to accept the 2019 Election results as announced by the KPU. They also urge the public to reject the call for people power by losing candidates over accusations that election was fraudulent.

"People power is not a shortcut to achieving democracy. It is a road that can hurt democracy and divide the nation," SEMMI chairman Bintang Bayu Saputra said on Wednesday, May 22.

SEMMI has just held the 2019 National Student Revival Symposium in Bogor, which was attended by students from dozens of universities and student organizations, as well as youth organizations in the Greater Jakarta area.

Bintang said that there were a number of points generated from the symposium related to post-election political situations. Among them is to respect the decisions made by the constitution and encouraging reconciliation.

 "As university students, we stand in the middle when political elites are dividing the nation," he said. 

One of the symposium's participants, Risky Fhafulhakim, said that calling for people power as an effort to delegitimize the election result is a divisive act by Prabowo-Sandi's camp. He said that if anyone is not satisfied with the outcome, the proper way to protest is by going to the Constitutional Court. 

"The law guarantees freedom of opinion, but it should not be used to taint democracy by unconstitutional ways. The true path of democracy is through the constitution, which is what we advise," he said.  

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