Dozens of academicians have voiced strong warnings against the Jokowi administration, which they say has violated ethics and undermined democracy.

But in the midst of these calls and criticisms, observers said, the police actually showed neutrality by making a tactic to ask a number of campus officials to make a video aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.

Political expert from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Devi Darmawan, said the police clearly wanted to undermine the critical attitude of the academic community.

Devi also urged that the police officers who did this be dealt with firmly. Because as protectors of society, he said, law enforcement officers "must not serve the interests of the government, let alone Jokowi personally".

Responding to this issue, Karopenmas of the National Police's Public Relations Division, Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, argued that the request to make a video testimony was a form of security maintenance so that the community would not be provoked or divided ahead of the election.

Since the end of January until Wednesday (07/02), at least 50 universities have delivered moral appeals and criticisms of President Jokowi's administration.

The latest is Semarang State University (Unnes), which calls it the 'Moral Call of Sekaran Campus'.

Professor of Unnes, Prof. Issy Yuliasri, said that the current state of democracy in Indonesia is being threatened due to "authoritarianism in the name of law".

The ideals of reform to create a democratic, free-expression state have been eroded by oligarchic power behavior that she called "intimidative to civil liberties and abuse of power".

This condition is exacerbated by the erosion of the role model of state administrators and the rampant symbolic manipulation of political elites.

That is why Unnes calls on the president, vice president, ministers and state officials to uphold the principles of democracy, the constitution, and the mandate of reform.

State officials are also urged not to abuse power for personal or group interests or momentary electoral gain.

To the Police / TNI, he called on them to uphold neutrality and not be manipulated by power for momentary interests.

"Which sacrifices integrity and commitment to the administration of a state that is clean from corruption, collusion and nepotism."

"Meanwhile, all elements of the nation are invited to close up to guard the upholding of dignified democracy, the constitution, and the rule of law..."

Lecturer at STF Driyarkara, A. Setyo Wibowo, said that the social criticism expressed by dozens of universities in Indonesia is part of the campus responsibility called the 'tridharma of higher education'.

In addition to teaching and research, the 'teaching of truth' carried out by the campus is community service.

"If there is something that is not right in community service, we are also responsible. We voice that the matter of ethics, please yes, that ethics is the basic foundation of living together.Ethics cannot just be put aside in political pragmatism," Setyo said.

In this context, a number of issues that have become the concern of the academic community are the decision of the Constitutional Court that passed President Jokowi's son to the 2024 presidential election.

In addition, the decision of the Election Organizer Honor Council (DKPP) also stated that the chairman and members of the KPU violated the code of ethics for accepting the registration of Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

"We already feel this is not right. We voiced our concerns," Setyo explained.

He also emphasized that the voices of concern of 50 universities, including the academicians in them who criticized Jokowi's administration, were partisanship on values and ethics.

"We are partisans of values, so our alignment is with democratic values and ethical values," Setyo continued.

Meanwhile, Professor Franz Magnis-Suseno - who is also a professor at STF Driyarkara - responded to the phenomenon of police asking campuses to give appreciation to the performance of the Jokowi administration as "too much".

"Now pressure and intimidation are used to silence criticism. The criticism voiced by the academic world is appropriate and should be responded to politically rather than trying to suppress or intimidate," said Romo Magnis - Franz Magnis-Suseno's nickname.

The man who is prolific in producing scholarly books assesses that what happened in Semarang is not in accordance with the right to freedom of speech.

Romo Magnis also sees the position of the police as "a little squeezed" due to pressure.

"I think the intervention in Semarang was at least polite, so it must be recognized, but the police should have rejected something like that," he said.

Furthermore, Romo Magnis assessed that this method is very common in authoritarian countries, when the ruler has difficulty relinquishing his power.

However, President Joko Widodo still has time to stop the incident in Semarang, which may also occur in other areas.

"The police will not make it on their own initiative. They feel pressured, the president is ultimately responsible. If the president allows it, it means he supports it," said Romo Magnis.

Under increasing pressure, the wider academic community generally criticized ethical violations in Gibran's candidacy. Another thing is to urge President Jokowi to take a neutral stance, and guarantee elections without fraud.

At least, there is still one week before the election takes place President Jokowi responds to the call from dozens of universities in Indonesia.

"So it depends on him. But if the pressure continues, it's a shame that he will go down in history, like the president who ended up strangling the results of the good ideas of the reform struggle," said Romo Magnis.

Political observer from BRIN, Devi Darmawan, agrees.

He said, what was conveyed by the academic community towards the non-neutrality of the Jokowi administration over the implementation of the 2024 Election is both a truth and a concern.

This is because the irregularities committed by the President by showing favoritism to the Prabowo-Gibran candidate have damaged the quality of elections and democracy in Indonesia.

For this reason, Devi said, they are willing to 'go down the mountain' to voice these inequalities despite the stakes of their careers and positions at the university.

"We know that it is not easy in the current political situation to voice the truth because there are things that are sacrificed. For example, their position or how campus rules do not allow it to be done by academics," Devi told BBC News Indonesia.

"But they choose to speak out even though they know there will be an impact on them personally and their careers."

Unfortunately, continued Devi, in the midst of calls and criticism of Jokowi's government, law enforcement officials have shown non-neutrality by "serving the interests of the government, let alone Jokowi personally".

The trick is to ask a number of campus officials to make a video aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.

For Devi, the police clearly wanted to undermine the critical attitude of the academic community.

"Loyalty to leadership should not make the police, who have the authority to protect and protect the community, instead serve the government and Jokowi personally," she said.

"We have the boundaries of the state but because of Jokowi's [interests] it seems as if everything must serve what Jokowi wants ... it shouldn't be like that."

A number of universities are known to have been asked by the police to make videos aimed at appreciating President Jokowi's performance.

The Rector of Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang, Ferdinandus Hindiarto, admitted that he refused the request because it was considered not in accordance with the attitude of the university.

Previously, Unika along with 26 members of the Association of Indonesian Catholic Universities (APTKI) had made a statement of concern over the condition of Indonesian democracy.

There were six points voiced, which essentially asked the President and his staff to carry out their duties according to the principles of good governance and uphold the oath of office.

"I answered that our choice, our attitude could not fulfill that request. Because we have a strong basis, namely the Apostolic Constitution that Catholic universities seek, find and disseminate the truth," he said as reported by Antara.

But besides Unika, a similar request was apparently addressed to the State Islamic Institute (IAIN) Kudus, Central Java.

The Rector of IAIN Kudus, Prof. Dr. H. Adurrohman Kasdi, confirmed that he had made a video in which he appreciated President Jokowi's performance as requested by the police.

So did the Rector of the University of Semarang (USM), Supari.

In a video spread on social media, he said that "Mr. Joko Widodo leads Indonesia wholeheartedly. He is a statesman who has led Indonesia for ten years to make leaps of progress..."

Other campuses that made 'appreciation videos' include the Rector of Ma'arif Nahdlatul Ulama University Kebumen Imam Satibi, Rector of Jenderal Soedirman University Purwokerto Ahmad Sodiq, and Rector of Muhammadiyah University Purwekorto Jebul Suroso.