Ojol Demonstrators Protest at SMRC, Demand Saiful Mujani Apologise for 'Toppling Prabowo' Remarks
A crowd of online motorcycle taxi (ojol) drivers held a demonstration in front of the Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) office in Menteng, Central Jakarta. During the protest, the demonstrators demanded that Saiful Mujani apologise for his statements in a discussion forum regarding ‘toppling Prabowo’.
Observations at the location on Tuesday (14/4/2026) showed that the ojol crowd arrived around 12:00 WIB. They were led by a command vehicle to the Saiful Mujani office.
They appeared united, wearing green and yellow ojol uniforms. They also carried community flags.
Police officers provided tight security at the location. They stood guard at several points.
During the demonstration, the General Chairman of the Indonesian Online Motorcycle Taxi Association, Cecep Saripudin, gave a speech demanding that Saiful Mujani retract his statement calling on Indonesians to overthrow the leadership of President of the Republic Prabowo Subianto.
“The most pitiful thing, friends, is his statement, the narrative he built is that he does not agree with impeachment. A legal procedure, if one truly wants to topple a President in our country, there is something called procedural impeachment,” said Cecep from atop the command vehicle.
He opined that Saiful Mujani’s statement aimed to create chaos. According to him, the statement was dangerous.
“This statement is very dangerous. One narrative built by Saiful Mujani that will be used to create conflicts with the people themselves,” he said.
Therefore, the ojol crowd demanded that Saiful apologise publicly. He also called on the police to arrest Saiful.
“First, a demand for Saiful Mujani to apologise to the Indonesian people through TV and online media. Second, we demand that the police immediately investigate Saiful Mujani’s statement inciting rebellion against the legitimate government,” he emphasised.
Additionally, Cecep threatened to bring a larger crowd if the demands are not met. According to them, Saiful is not a statesman.
“If within 3 x 24 hours our demands are not realised, we will return with a larger crowd. Because this stirs empathy that Saiful Mujani is no longer a statesman,” he stated.