The unrest followed former general Prabowo Subianto's refusal to accept defeat in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election to incumbent President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi.
[6] Opposition figures in Prabowo's campaign team, such as Amien Rais and Rizieq Shihab, called for a "People Power" movement, comparing it to protests that preceded the downfall of Suharto in 1998.
[9] Prabowo's supporters and campaign team planned for a demonstration at the KPU office on the expected announcement date of 22 May 2019, calling for the disqualification of Jokowi, and stated they intended the protests to be peaceful.
[19] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Zulkifli Hasan, respectively leaders of Prabowo-supporting parties Demokrat and PAN, on the other hand, accepted the results and recognised Jokowi's victory.
[20][21] In anticipation of protests, some 45,000 armed police were deployed to guard the KPU and the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) offices in Central Jakarta.
[23] Barbed wire was installed on the road leading to the Bawaslu building in order to allow Polri personnel to manage the crowds.
[36] Early on 22 May, a group of unidentified individuals burned down cars parked in front of a Brimob dormitory in KS Tubun road of Petamburan, Tanah Abang.
[45] Authorities announced on 22 May that the sending of images and videos via social media applications, such as WhatsApp, would be restricted temporarily to prevent the spread of hoaxes and provocative content.
[48] The following day, Prabowo called on his supporters to "go home, rest and put their trust in the law", stating his intent to contest the election results.
[52] Jokowi announced in an official address on 22 May that "there would be no room for rioters who ravage the country", and that TNI and Polri would act under existing regulations.
[56] Wiranto, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, declared that "paid thugs" instigated the rioting and claimed that the government was aware of the "mastermind" of the events.
[60] In Surabaya, mayor Tri Rismaharini instructed that pupils be given a day off school on 22 May partly due to safety concerns from parents.
[61] In the months leading up to the election, communications minister Rudiantara criticised Facebook for "not being collaborative" with regards to the "removal of content" from its services, including Instagram.
[62] As the demonstrations began, security minister Wiranto made good on his promise that "authorities would restrict access to social media".
[64] Eyewitness reports with several Indonesian citizens confirmed outages for the use of Indonesia's primary digital communications technology, WhatsApp, which was blocked for several days, with a curfew, as far as Singaraja, Bali, some 957 kilometres away.