Stay neutral, students urge Jokowi

Time to exercise your right!: Street performers resting as they take part in a demonstration organised by various organisations and students, calling for the right choice to recover from the destruction of democracy, human rights and climate change, ahead of the election in Jakarta. — AFP

HUNDREDS of Indonesian students protested against outgoing President Joko Widodo’s perceived interference in the Feb 14 election to replace the leader of the world’s third-largest democracy, an organiser said.

Just a week out from the poll, up to 2,000 students from several universities were estimated to join a rally in the centre of the capital Jakarta yesterday, calling for Jokowi, as the popular president is known, to remain neutral in the hotly contested race.