The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Monday November 10 2014,
Acting Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said he will submit a recommendation letter on the disbandment of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) to the Law and Human Rights Ministry on Monday.
Ahok explained that he had coordinated the delivery of the letter with the Jakarta administration's legal bureau head Sri Rahayu.
“Hopefully many governors, regents and mayors across the nation will follow my lead in submitting letters calling for the disbandment of the FPI that is in line with the 2013 law on mass organizations,” said Ahok on Monday as quoted by kontan.co.id.
According to the 2013 law, the Law and Human Rights Ministry can disband a civil organization through a trial, which would involve police reports and evidence.
An organization that is taken to court may be sanctioned with a warning, suspension or disbandment.
About 2,000 FPI members demonstrated at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Monday to protest Ahok’s upcoming governorship of Jakarta, making it the group’s third demonstration in as many months.
During a protest in October, 16 police officers were injured by rocks and cow manure hurled by FPI members. As a result, the FPI riot coordinators were subsequently arrested, including two senior FPI figures Novel Bamu’min and Shahabudin Anggawi.
Also on Monday, 3,000 workers, including members of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions, staged a rally at the same place as the FPI demonstration to demand an increase in the minimum wage in Jakarta and more generous benefits.
The former Jakarta governor -- current Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo -- raised the minimum wage from Rp 2.2 million [US$181] to Rp 2.4 million earlier this year.
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