‘Most deadly 100 days’: Indonesia’s Prabowo faces major student protests against costly policies
Student protests across the country underline Prabowo’s ‘blunder and mediocre cabinet’ but are unlikely to ‘rock’ national politics, analysts note
Four months into his presidency, Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto is facing his first nationwide student protests, whose demands include a thorough evaluation of his costly programmes, cabinet choices and austerity-driven budget cuts.
The protests, dubbed Indonesia Gelap, or Dark Indonesia, took place on Monday and Tuesday in several cities across the country, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang and Bali.
But the pinnacle of the movement will occur in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta on Thursday, according to Herianto, coordinator at All-Indonesia Association of University Student Executive Bodies, or BEM SI.
“The protests on Monday and Tuesday were [simultaneous] in every region, but the peak is tomorrow in front of the palace, and only in Jakarta. Thursday is the inauguration day of [elected] regional heads [by the president] in Jakarta,” Herianto told This Week in Asia.
Protesters are also calling for a mass demonstration of civil disobedience by forgoing work on Friday to join the action in front of the palace.
Nicky Fahrizal, political researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia, said the students’ protests underlined Prabowo’s “blunder and mediocre cabinet”, though he doubted that they would “rock” national politics.