The Black Garuda conveys young people's dissatisfaction with the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor. (X.com/-)
JAKARTA: Public dissatisfaction with the current situation in Indonesia has manifested itself in several movements protesting against the policies of President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor.
One such movement was a nationwide protest called Indonesia Gelap (Dark Indonesia), which took place on Monday (Feb 17).
Thousands of students took to the streets across various cities coordinated by the All-Indonesia Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM SI).
The demonstration is expected to last for three days, with simultaneous rallies in multiple regions.
In Jakarta, the rally was concentrated at the Arjuna Wiwaha statue on the intersection of Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. MH Thamrin, adjacent to the National Monument (Monas) square.
The protest is also trending on social media with images of the national coat-of-arms, the Garuda, depicted against a black background emblazoned with the hashtag #IndonesiaGelap, known as the Black Garuda. The protesters claim that Indonesia is not progressing toward its Indonesia Emas (Golden Indonesia) vision but is instead heading into darkness.
In 2024, various memes appeared, joking that instead of Indonesia Emas, the slogan should be Indonesia Cemas (Anxious Indonesia), or even Indonesia Lemas (Weakened Indonesia). “Our nation's policies are growing increasingly repressive and harmful to the people,” the BEM SI said in a circular, as quoted by idntimes.com.
“The 1945 Constitution and Pancasila must be fully upheld for the welfare of all Indonesians.”
The BEM SI is demanding transparency in the free nutritious meal programme, it opposes the revised Mining Law, rejects the so-called dual-function policy for the military and calls for the prosecution of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as well as the swift passage of an asset seizure bill.
Meanwhile, the University of Indonesia’s Student Executive Body (BEM UI) issued its own list of demands.
The BEM UI’s demands include repealing Presidential Instruction No. 1/2025 on budget cuts as they negatively impact the public; removing provisions in the revised Mining Law allowing universities to manage mining operations; ensuring full and unhindered disbursement of performance allowances for lecturers and academic staff; overhauling the free meals programme by removing it from the education budget and stopping the implementation of policies that lack scientific research and public welfare considerations.
BEM UI chairman Iqbal Cheisa Wiguna warned that if the government did not respond to Monday’s protests, larger demonstrations would follow.
“There may be further actions, and they will certainly be on a bigger scale,” he said, as quoted by kompas.com.
Separately in Surabaya, East Java, a rally criticising Prabowo’s administration descended into violence after students clashed with the police.
The students, who made similar demands to those aired in Jakarta, initially requested that members of the East Java Legislative Council meet them. Three councillors did go out to meet them, however, they were rejected by the students, who demanded that council speaker Musyafak Rouf should meet them.
Musyafak agreed to talk with the students and signed their demands and promised to dispatch them to the central government.
Jostling then ensued between students and police officers leading to the police deploying a water cannon against the demonstrators.
The students began to disperse at about 4:30pm, tribunnews.com reported.
Prior to the emergence of the Black Garuda symbol, there was the Blue Garuda warning, which appeared ahead of regional head elections in November, after the Supreme Court ruled on lowering the age limit for regional head candidates.
The court’s decision would have allowed Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep to run for Jakarta governor.
However, the Constitutional Court insisted that the age limit of 30 years be reinstated. With the age limit unchanged, Kaesang was barred from running as a gubernatorial candidate.
In addition to the Black Garuda movement, another display of public dissatisfaction is the recent hashtag #KaburAjaDulu (Just Run Away First), which promotes Indonesians working and studying abroad, leaving the chaos at home.
An extreme manifestation of the movement is the renunciation of Indonesian citizenship.
Supporters of #KaburAjaDulu argue that by working abroad, they are actually helping the government by sending remittances home, as well as reducing unemployment pressure, as the government had failed to provide ample jobs at home. State officials, however, have dismissed such calls.
“If they want to run away, just run. Don’t return, if necessary,” Deputy Manpower Minister Immanuel Ebenezer said, as quoted by kompas.com, despite Prabowo having tasked the Manpower Ministry with preparing Indonesians to work abroad.
Manpower Minister Yassierli, however, insisted the hashtag was a challenge for the government to provide employment at home.
“There are actually opportunities for work abroad. So the spirit is actually not running away,” he said.
Meanwhile, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadia, who recently caused chaos with a botched new arrangement for the sale of subsidised 3-kilogramme LPG canisters, questioned the nationalism of Indonesians who decided to work abroad, tribunnews.com reported.
Similarly, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister/National Land Agency head Nusron Wahid said that Indonesians who preferred to work abroad lacked patriotism.
“If there is [the hashtag] KaburAjaDulu, are they Indonesian or not?” Nusron asked on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
“If we are true patriots, we will solve any problems that arise together.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
