Why was Indonesia rocked by protests? | Explained

The story so far: What started as a peaceful protest against Parliament members of Indonesia on August 25 in Jakarta, quickly snowballed into violent riots between civilians and the police/military when, on August 28, footage emerged of an armoured vehicle of the paramilitary police running over and killing a 21-year-old delivery worker. Since then, thousands have been arrested and at least seven have died in one of the most violent protests Indonesia has seen recently.

What happened?

The initial protests, which were mainly composed of students and labour unions, were conducted outside the Indonesian Parliament, against the housing allowance accorded to legislative members which is almost 50 million rupiah ($3,000) — 10 times the national average monthly minimum wage.

However, after 21-year-old Affan Kurniawan, a delivery worker, was run over and killed by a police vehicle, protests escalated and spilled out of the capital across the country against the ‘corrupt elite’ and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s government. The delivery driver’s killing became the flame which ignited the long-repressed anger of the people at the various austerity measures of the President in the past year. Protestors attacked public buildings, burned down and looted houses of public officials, including the house of then Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and violent clashes were reported between protestors and the police.

How has the government responded?

President Prabowo announced that the Parliament had come to a consensus to reduce housing allowance and foreign visits for Parliament representatives. He also assured that an investigation will be conducted into the killing of Mr. Affan, and that those responsible will be brought to book. However, he warned that while his government respected the right to peaceful assembly, looting and rioting would be punished and that the same bordered on “terrorism and treason”. “I order the police and military to take the strongest possible action against destruction of public facilities and looting of homes and economic centres,” Mr. Prabowo said.

At least 3,000 people have been arrested or detained by the police across the country, and hundreds have been injured, some of whom include police personnel. Rights groups have said that at least 20 people are missing since the protests began.

What about income inequality?

The protests in Indonesia have generally been seen as an incitement of anger against the elites by a shrinking middle class. While the Gini co-efficient of Indonesia has been declining, the country still registers one of the highest levels of inequality in the Southeast Asian region.

As per an Oxfam report, Indonesia ranks sixth among countries with the greatest wealth inequality. The four richest people in Indonesia have a combined income of more than 100 of the poorest citizens in the country. Additional issues which plague the poor include low wages and job insecurity. Education also remains underfunded, with various barriers restricting higher education.

Is this the first time protests have emerged against the ruling party?

Mr. Prabowo and his government came to power last year in October. And since then, his government has embarked on a cost-cutting drive to increase ‘efficiency’.

In the beginning of this year, the Prabowo government announced a fiscal cut of 306 trillion rupiah ($18.8 billion) from the country’s budget. These cuts were justified by the government as being redirected to fund the ‘free meal’ programme in schools, which was one of the key election campaign promises of the ruling government. The programme was aimed at not only providing nutritious food to school students but also as a tool to build back the dilapidated schools of the country.

However, this reallocation has come at a great cost. The budgets of several government departments have beeen reduced significantly; for example, there has been a 70% reduction for public works, a 52% cut for economic affairs and a 40% reduction in investment. To cope with such budget cuts, regional governments increased local taxes, the most infamous of them being a 250% increase in property tax in Pati, a town in central Java. The higher education ministry’s budget was also cut by 25%.

These cuts caused massive outrage among college students who stated that these reductions will make education expensive as well as cut scholarships. On February 17, thousands of students came out in protest of these budget cuts. The movement was dubbed ‘Dark Indonesia’ as opposed to the President’s vision of bringing in a ‘Golden Indonesia’. The movement reached its zenith on February 20 with hundreds of thousands of students taking to the streets in Jakarta and other cities. However, Mr. Prabowo slammed the protests and said that these cuts were necessary to fuel the economic future of the country.

What next?

In a bid to quell some of the public anger, one of the police officers behind the killing of Mr. Affan has been “dishonourably” fired. The Cabinet has also been reshuffled with five Ministers loosing their job, including Ms. Indrawati. Parliamentary officials also met with at least 10 student unions whose demands included the release of demonstrators and detainees. Fitch Ratings has said that the unrest could harm Indonesia’s sovereign credit profile.