Reuters | Dec. 2, 2018
Tens of thousands of Indonesian Muslims held a rally in Jakarta on Sunday led by hardline groups who had agitated to remove the city’s Christian governor, underscoring the growing influence of Islamist groups ahead of elections in 2019.
The rally was attended by former general, Prabowo Subianto, a nationalist with strong links to Islamists who is seeking to topple President Joko Widodo in next year’s polls after being narrowly defeated in 2014 during a bitterly fought campaign.
The crowd, many of whom were dressed in white and carrying Islamic flags, started gathering at Jakarta’s National Monument from around 3 a.m. to hold prayers.