Jakarta, IndonesiaSentinel — A viral image of the Garuda emblem against a blue background with the text ‘Peringatan Darurat’ (Emergency Alert) has flooded social media, becoming a symbol of a growing movement. This graphic, a screenshot from old TVRI broadcasts, has been adopted by netizens as a symbol of resistance, reflecting widespread concern over the state of democracy in Indonesia following attempts by the DPR (House of Representatives) and the government to override a Constitutional Court (MK) ruling on local election (Pilkada) candidacy requirements.
The ‘Peringatan Darurat’ movement, marked by the Garuda symbol against a blue background, dominated social media platforms, trending on Twitter (or X) throughout Wednesday, August 21, 2024. This movement emerged as a response to the rapid legislative actions by the DPR and the government to revise the Pilkada Law without considering the MK’s decision.
On the same day, the DPR’s Legislation Body (Baleg) and the government formed a Working Committee (Panja) to expedite the revision of the Pilkada Law. They decided to exclude the MK’s ruling from the new legislation, leading to speculation that the revision aims to pave the way for President Jokowi’s son, Kaesang Pangarep, to participate in upcoming local elections.
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The draft of the revised Pilkada Law has already been approved by all factions in the DPR, except for the PDI-P (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle), and is set to be ratified in a plenary session on Thursday, August 22, 2024.
Meanwhile, on social media, netizens have rallied under the banners of ‘#PeringatanDarurat’, ‘#KawalPutusanMK’, and ‘#TolakPolitikDinasti’, which have been trending on X and other platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp, as a form of protest against the government and DPR’s disregard for the MK ruling.
Origins of the ‘Peringatan Darurat’ Blue Garuda
The image of the Garuda against a blue background with ‘Peringatan Darurat’ was initially posted by the collaborative social media accounts of narasinewsroom, @najwashihab, @matanjawa, and @narasi.tv amidst the government’s attempt to override the MK’s ruling through expedited deliberations on the Pilkada Law in the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta. The image was quickly picked up by netizens, who helped spread it as a form of resistance against the disregard for the MK’s decision.
(Agung)
