Tension Escalate as Civitas Academica Critics Face Retaliation

A group of senior professors and lecturers of Gadjah Mada University initiated the movement, publicly addressing their protest on Jan 31 toward President Joko Widodo and his administration’s lack of neutrality during the election process.

To date, more than 50 universities across the nation, many of them are the leading universities like UI, ITS, ITB, IPB, and Airlangga University, among others, have been criticizing Jokowi and his administration over lack of neutrality. Furthermore, they are asking the president to stop all political engineering that allegedly benefits the Prabowo-Gibran ticket, and return to the democracy principle and save the upcoming election integrity.

Responding normatively, President Joko Widodo commented that all critics were a form of democracy. At the same time, all of a sudden, many professors, lecturers, and students involved in the mass protests started to face intimidation and political accusations.