Mass demonstrations in Indonesia continue as protestors across the archipelago show their anger towards government corruption.
Monday 25th August marked a turn in ongoing frustration against the government, as mass demonstrations began in Jakarta. Not long before, the government announced they would increase the housing allowance and pay given to parliamentarians, amounting to thirty times the average national income in Indonesia. Following a series of cuts to education and health, the cost of living continues to soar while wages stagnate.
At a time of economic insecurity, President Prabowo’s policies are fuelling public rage across the country. In Makassar, rioters have burned government buildings, leading to three deaths. In the capital, protesters have taken to the houses of politicians to loot luxury items. Government forces have wielded police brutality against protestors, escalating tensions with use of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
What sparked further unrest was when, in Jakarta, a police vehicle ran over and killed 21-year-old Affan Kurniawan, the motorcycle rideshare driver who got caught up in the protest while still working. Though the government has apologised, the police’s handling of the demonstrations has led to at least ten more deaths, while 1,402 protestors have been detained.
The significance of Affan’s job as a rideshare driver points to the huge number of delivery drivers participating in the protests. Though driving is a popular job in Indonesia, the gig economy is poorly paid, so those in it are often economically exploited and socially marginalised.
For this reason, Indonesia’s southeast Asian neighbours are showing their solidarity by delivering food via popular platforms like Grab and Gojek, leaving messages for the drivers to keep the food themselves, or distribute to family members who need it. Poor agricultural policies have diminished the domestic production power of Indonesian farmers, leading to national food insecurity. #SEAblings, short for southwest Asian siblings, is an optimistic show of regional support to tackle this one issue.
Other issues of government corruption and police brutality persist, however. Although President Prabowo vows to reign in allowances given to politicians, his violent crackdown against protestors is close to treating demonstrations “as acts of treason or terrorism,” warns Human Rights Watch.
Prabowo himself is the former son-in-law of Indonesian dictator Suharto. A former general too, he led the forces that killed and wounded protestors at Trisakti University in 1998, abducted 22 activists and was banned for his human rights abuses from the United States until 2020. Yet, TikToks of Prabowo as a ‘cute grandpa’ constituted his attempt to appeal to young people during the election. What young Indonesians have asked for however, is an “accountable, transparent, people-centered government,” according to a former member of the All-Indonesian Students’ Union.
The Indonesian Women’s Alliance continues to protest, waving broomsticks to symbolically sweep away the dirt of the state. Others are clad in green, the colour of Gojek, which is the company Affan Kurniawan used to drive for. Unless Prabowo does more to tackle government corruption and elitism, the public unrest is likely to continue. The protestors will not settle without change.
