Overview
- Hundreds to about 2,000 students marched in central Jakarta on Friday in protests called “Heading to Bankrupt Indonesia,” and police and soldiers deployed roughly 6,000 personnel to block access to key sites.
- Protesters presented five demands that called for lower fuel and food prices, cuts to what they call wasteful state spending, and suspension of the flagship free school meals programme.
- Authorities used metal barricades and security rings that led to scuffles when some demonstrators tried to push through police lines, and many were prevented from reaching the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and nearby presidential areas.
- The unrest is driven by sharp economic pain, including the rupiah’s slide to about 18,000 per US dollar and a roughly 32 percent rise in non-subsidized fuel prices this week, while the free meals programme faces a graft probe and reports of mass food poisoning.
- The protests deepen political pressure on President Prabowo’s government by tying fiscal strain to governance and security concerns and raising the prospect of broader unrest if currency and budget stresses continue.