Rizieq Pickups Crowd, Observers: Anies Cannot Ban, If Prohibited Will Be Reviled By Supporters

Rizieq Shihab with his supporters, Tuesday 10 November (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The crowd of supporters of the Grand Imam of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) Rizieq Shihab in the Petamburan area, Central Jakarta has been in the spotlight, but DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is considered unable to impose the ban. Because if Rizieq's supporters were prohibited from gathering, observers said it would have a negative impact on Anies Baswedan.

"Anies really cannot prohibit in the context of picking up Habib Rizieq Shihab, who is so crowded and swollen. In fact, if he does, he will be reviled by Habib Rizieq's supporters," said Executive Director of Indonesia Political Review (IPR) Ujang Komarudin when contacted by VOI, Wednesday, November 11. .

"This includes the president and the ministers. That's why no one comments or prohibits. They are politically silent on allowing it, the important thing is that it is safe in order," he added.

He said that this insult was very likely to arise because of the current public support for Rizieq Shihab. So, when there is a ban either from Anies or other government parties, it is not impossible that there will be a bad judgment.

"Maybe this is political compulsion. Because Anies does not allow him to fight. Whoever the governor is, I don't think he will dare to do that," he said.

Ujang also highlighted the problem of the meeting between Anies and Rizieq which was held on Tuesday night, November 10 yesterday. According to him, the meeting that was held when Rizieq was supposed to carry out self-quarantine occurred because the two of them were old friends. So it is natural that Anies then came to Rizieq at his residence.

Especially in 2017, Rizieq and the 212 movement were considered to be one of the factors supporting Anies's victory in the election for the governor of DKI Jakarta.

"Remember, in 2017 he contributed to Anies' victory with the 212 movement in the Pilkada and the movement was able to overthrow Ahok, then Anies became the winner. That's right. So I think this is still part of the political friendship between old friends," he said.

Meanwhile, with regard to the possibility of Anies and Rizieq discussing preparations for the 2024 General Election, Ujang said that this could happen. It's just that the conversation that is being held is probably just an exploration and conveying intentions.

"Because in the busy context, in the context of just coming, I don't think I have discussed strategic matters. But in the context of the preparation, I have the intention to run for future support, yes. It could be," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Political Opinion (IPO) Executive Director, Dedi Kurnia Syah, expressed a different view. He said, the meeting between Anies and Rizieq Shihab could have been held solely to pay respect.

"Even if there is a political discussion, of course it will only be related to the issues currently occurring. Because discussing the 2024 agenda is still too early, especially when Habib Rizieq Shihab has just arrived," he said.

However, there will be a different story, when Anies visited Rizieq, he was not in the momentum of his return home or a few days after he arrived from Saudi Arabia along with a number of other figures with political desires.

"For example, in conjunction with a meeting of other figures such as Amien Rais, Gatot Nurmantyo, and others," he said.

Previously, Anies planned to meet Rizieq this morning. However, it turned out that Anies had accelerated the visit time to last night.

This was revealed in uploading a photo on the Instagram account of the Deputy Secretary General of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Tengku Zulkarnain, namely @ tengkuzulkarnain.id. In the photo, Tengku takes a photo with Anies, Rizieq, and Rizieq's son-in-law, Hanif Alatas.

Tengku said that the reason for the accelerated meeting time was because he saw Rizieq's condition, who still needed rest after traveling from Saudi Arabia for hours.

If the meeting is held after the dawn congregation prayer time, it will cause a crowd. Thus, Rizieq's rest time was also reduced.

"At dawn, there are too many people. We feel sorry that he wants to rest. Last night (night, ed) just hurry, at half past nine it was over," said Tengku.

Tengku also said that the second meeting did not discuss political matters. Anies and Rizieq were just chatting lightly while drinking tea because they had not seen each other for a long time.

"Nothing (discussing politics). Drinking tea just let go of longing for friends, friends, being healthy, that's nice," he said.