Islamic politics show strength in massive Jakarta anti-Ahok rally

Big turnout: Participants in the so-called reunion of the 212 alumni pack the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Sunday. The gathering was named after the massive rally held on Dec. 2, 2016 that called for the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki

Islamist groups behind the downfall of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama are calling on Muslims to vote against the presidential candidate and political parties that backed the city’s first Chinese and second Christian governor. 

In a big rally that shows the growing clout of the Islamists in Indonesian politics and the 2019 general elections, hundreds of thousands of conservative Muslims flocked to the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta on Sunday (Dec 2) to commemorate the second anniversary of the 2016 anti-Ahok rally that led to his imprisonment for blasphemy.