Jokowi scrambles to maintain stability amid public outrage

JAKARTA: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should have been on a state visit to Australia this week, but instead spent the past two days visiting the country’s armed forces and major Islamic organisations in a bid to maintain stability in the country amid public outrage involving blasphemy allegations made against the Jakarta governor.

After visiting the headquarters of the Indonesian Army and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation’s largest Muslim organisation, on Monday, Jokowi on Tuesday paid a visit to the Police Higher Education College (PTIK) in South Jakarta and the headquarters of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim group in the country after NU, in Menteng, Central Jakarta.