Police on highest alert following KPU's election results' announcement

That is right, information was received from the National Police Chief's Operational Assistant, Inspector General Martuani Sormin, that today, Alert 1 has been issued

The Indonesian Police raised the national security alert to the highest level in line with the General Election Commission (KPU) declaring the election results in the wee hours of Tuesday.

"That is right that information was received from the National Police Chief's Operational Assistant, Inspector General Martuani Sormin, that today, Alert 1 has been issued," Brigadier General Dedi Prasetyo, spokesman of the Indonesian Police, remarked here, on Tuesday.

A telegram letter no: STR/281/N/OPS.1.1.1 2019, dated May 20, 2019, regarding the results of the Police coordinating meeting on security measure following the final vote counts' announcement, was under circulation.

Protection has been stepped up, with the police on the highest alert level, effective from May 21 to May 25, 2019, in accordance with the letter signed by Martuani Sormin on behalf of General Tito Karnavian, the Indonesian Police chief.

The regional police had also been urged to maintain vigil and adopt precautionary measures if the need arises.

The KPU, on Tuesday, at 1:28 a.m. local time, made an announcement of the results of the presidential elections organized across the country's 34 provinces and 130 overseas offices, on April 17, 2019.

Incumbent Joko Widodo secured 85,607,362 votes, or 55.50 percent, while rival pair Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pocketed 68,650,239 votes, or 44.50 percent.

Several parties, discontent with the vote count results, leveled allegations of fraud on the election executors. Subianto's supporters had planned to hold a mass protest or "people power" movement on May 22.

The Indonesian Police had earlier appealed to the people to not hold a mass protest on May 22 after the KPU's announcement of the outcomes of the 2019 general elections.

"On May 22, we urge people to not hold any mass gathering," Inspector General Iqbal, spokesman of the Indonesian Police (Polri), remarked at a press conference here on Friday, adding that terrorists could use the mass gathering to further their devious plans.

Meanwhile, Din Syamsuddin, a prominent figure of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, believes that the "people power" movement does not go contrary to the Constitution and hence must not be thwarted.

"However, the crucial aspect is that it must be held peacefully, with no violence or anarchy," Syamsuddin remarked here on Sunday.

Security officers must also handle protestors in a peaceful and protective way, Syamsuddin, chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), emphasized.

Syamsuddin said he did not support a "people power" movement" that forces one's will and leads to turmoil, as it will pit Muslims against one another.

"The social impact is too high. That is my stance. I am a supporter of peace," he noted.

Syamsuddin also did not favor the delegitimization of the KPU, but if the Commission failed to execute the elections as mandated by the Constitution in a fair, honest, accountable, and transparent manner, then the results would be constitutionally defective.

He called on the need to address and verify electoral frauds, and to this end, if the concerned allegation is not corroborated, it is a slander. However, if it is found to be true, it would be a disaster and could not be underestimated, he added.