The governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, met leader of FPI, Rizieq Shihab. (Image via CNN Indonesia)

Anies Baswedan meets Rizieq Shihab

The Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, was seen meeting up on Tuesday with the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab, after his arrival from his three-year stay in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The news was confirmed through a Wednesday's tweet from the official Twitter account of FPI. In the post, also attended the Deputy Secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Ust. Tengku Zulkarnain.

The visit was confirmed by the Deputy Secretary-General of 212 Alumni Brotherhood (PA 212), Novel Bamukmin. However, the General Secretary of FPI, Munarman, Chairman of PA 212, Slamet Maarif, also Novel declined to comment on the meeting between Anies and Rizieq. Novel asserted that the meet-up between Anies and Rizieq maintained preventive measure against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Novel claimed that the officials of FPI, PA 212, to National Movement to Safeguard Ulema Fatwa (GNPF Ulama) also took part in the meeting.

GERINDRA: THE MEETING IS NORMAL

Speaking on Wednesday, the head of Jakarta's regional representative council and also a member of Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party, Mohamad Taufik, asserted that the meeting between Anies and Rizieq on Tuesday should not be a problem. Previously, Anies' visit to Rizieq's house in Petamburan became a hot topic because it was done during Rizieq's self-quarantine period.

An epidemiologist from Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman, regretted Anies' action. For him, it is unwise and dense of the governor to breach the health protocol, mentioning the fact that Anies should have been an example as a governor. Therefore, Dicky stated that Anies' reckless visit could bring negative impact on his people, such as imitating his act and breaching the health protocol against COVID-19.

Another critic also came from a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Gilber Simanjuntak. He stated that Anies has violated the regulations on COVID-19 mitigation, as he was not supposed to visit Rizieq during his self-quarantine period from Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Gilbert called on the Home Affairs Ministry to follow up on this matter.

Source: https://bit.ly/2UgnPGA