A post-election assassination plot targeting four security officials, including the intelligence chief and a cabinet minister, was designed to destabilise Joko Widodo’s leadership, police say.

The suspects are believed to be linked to a plan to kill four state officials and a pollster as part of a broader plot to sow discord. Details have also emerged of religious teachers directing youngsters to take part in the riots.

But for some Chinese Indonesians in Jakarta, the fear of being caught up in racially-inspired violence remains.

Two of 442 detained protesters belong to a group that sent Indonesians to fight in Syria, police said, adding that the suspects had intended to ‘carry out jihad’ during the riots.

After several people died in violent protests in Jakarta, messages spread on social media blaming the deaths on ‘police from China’.

Protesters in Jakarta and elsewhere attacked police with Molotov cocktails, slingshots with marbles, and rocks to express their opposition to the nation’s election results.

A spokesman for the country’s National Police Headquarters said homosexuality breached legal and religious norms, as well as social norms of ‘politeness’ and ‘morality’.

More than 2 million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia in 2018, and the Southeast Asian nation predicts that figure will increase to 2.6 million this year.

The perpetrators, members of a Malay youth paramilitary organisation, justified their actions by claiming the dance was ‘vulgar’ and not compatible with local culture.

Sari Club, one of the two sites targeted by a suicide bomber in 2002, will be replaced with a five-storey restaurant, scuppering plans by Canberra to establish a peace park for victims.

The country’s social media users paid tribute to the officers with #MartirDemokrasi.

Citing exit polls and quick count surveys, the incumbent president tacitly claimed victory on Thursday as world leaders called to congratulate him.

Several quick count results suggest the incumbent president has a lead of 8 to 9 percentage points but Prabowo says he’s won 62 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent President Joko Widodo and his challenger Prabowo Subianto both say they’re optimistic about winning.

At least 91 candidates in Wednesday’s elections to the House of Representatives are from the entertainment world, and they include musicians, film stars and dangdut singers.

Villagers complaining of no compensation, completion dates pushed back and ministers frustrated over having no information have thrust China’s high-speed rail link into spotlight ahead of the April 17 election.

Supporters of opposition candidate Prabowo Subianto say the incident proves that the vote is rigged, while President Joko Widodo’s camp has dismissed the allegations

Prabowo has also pledged to promote growth and transform Indonesia into an ‘Asian Tiger’.

Indonesia’s golput movement – the act of casting a blank ballot or abstaining from voting – is growing rapidly on social media.

The park is home to an estimated 5,700 Komodo dragons and received nearly 160,000 visitors last year, but recent media reports suggested that it might close amid a wildlife trafficking incident.