JAKARTA: Demonstrators in Jakarta staged a gathering in the form of a picnic outside Indonesia’s parliament building on Friday (Sept 5), a turnabout from deadly protests that had rocked the country.
Hundreds gathered in the afternoon for the so-called National People’s Picnic despite bouts of rain, many of them donning clothes in the protest colours of pink and green.
Alongside speeches detailing their demands, they sang songs, read poetry and played local games.
Demonstrations had left at least ten people dead in Indonesia in the past two weeks, with protesters setting fire to infrastructure and some government buildings.
The most violent anti-government protests in years began against higher allowances for members of parliament but were inflamed by the death of a delivery driver in an accident with a police vehicle.
Unrest has cooled since the police and military were deployed widely in the capital.
President Prabowo Subianto’s government has agreed to scrap the hefty lawmaker allowances that angered Indonesians, while student protest leaders met the country’s state secretary and education minister on Thursday night.
Friday is a deadline for seventeen short-term demands from protesters, including higher wages for workers, greater budget transparency and curbing the military’s involvement in domestic security. There are also eight wide-reaching demands.
Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad held a briefing Friday evening to lay out further actions in response to the demands.
He said lawmakers will also face a cut in other allowances, after a review of electricity, communication and transport costs.
A moratorium on overseas travel has also been imposed, except for state invitations, he said.
Erring lawmakers will be investigated and those whose parliament membership get deactivated won’t receive any pay, Dasco said.
Parliament will be more transparent and consult the public in deciding their policies, he added. - Bloomberg
