REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan was grateful to hear the court decision on a lawsuit against him over his inaugural speech in October last year. In his speech, he used term pribumi (native Indonesian), which was considered by some people to have revived Colonial-Era racism.

The lawsuit was filed by Anti-Race and Ethnic Discrimination Advocacy Team (Taktis) against Anies following a failure on mediation with legal bureau of Jakarta administration. However, panel judges at Central Jakarta District Court considered there was no unlawful act on the term "pribumi".

"Alhamdulillah (thank God) I'm grateful and respect court's decision," said Anies on Monday (June 4).

Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan delivered his first speech at City Hall, Jakarta, Monday (October 16, 2017) night.

In his inaugural speech in October, Anies said, "In the past, "pribumi" were the conquered. Now, its time for us to be the host in our own land. We worked hard to get rid of colonialism and we must enjoy our freedom."

His speech then sparked widespread criticism. A number of parties assessed "pribumi" term in Anies' speech could make disunity in Jakarta capital. However, Anies explained the context behind capital's pribumi in his first speech. He said the use of that diction refered to colonialism era before independence.

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