Indonesian police will enforce a ban on buffalo at street protests after the president expressed hurt at being compared to the animal
Indonesian police will enforce a ban on buffalo at street protests after the president expressed hurt at being compared to the animal.
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Silly: Protesters compared the president to a buffalo. Pic/AFP |
Protesters stuck President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's photo on the animal's behind at a protest last week.u00a0 They said the leader was "big, slow and stupid like a buffalo".
The president said, "That statement is not ethical or moral, and to use a buffalo can violate other regulations, like traffic laws."
Livestock at protests also raised safety fears, said a Jakarta police spokesman.u00a0 "Streets are no place for animals, because they can stray from your hold and cause a disruption to traffic," said Kombes Boy Rafly Amar from the Jakarta Police.
Police said that livestock will be removed from any political rallies in future.
Enforcing the ban on buffalo at street protests is an "overreaction" and showed Yudhoyono as a weak leader, Desmond Mahesa, a member of the opposition said.u00a0
The buffalo is also the symbol of Indonesia's main opposition party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
Yudhoyono was re-elected in July 2009.
