JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/ANN): Leaders of the House of Representatives in Indonesia held talks with protesters on June 19 following a series of protests launched by university students in the past week to urge a re-evaluation of President Prabowo Subianto’s spending priorities and flagship programmes, among other demands.
On the evening of June 19, House Deputy Speakers Sufmi Dasco Ahmad of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party and Saan Mustopa of the NasDem Party came to meet protesters following a discussion with several representatives of the students inside the complex.
“Today, we have had good communication and interaction, although the time was limited. Going forward, we will increase engagement with student representatives,” Dasco told the protesters.
Saan said several key concerns raised by student representatives, including issues surrounding the free nutritious meal programme and rising fuel prices, had been addressed during the meeting by relevant agency heads and ministers who joined the audience remotely.
The House leaders also promised to facilitate dialogue with government officials on protesters’ demands.
More than 1,000 students held a rally in front of the Senayan legislative complex, chanting slogans demanding the President to stop what rallygoers described as “wasteful state spending” and suspend his costly flagship programmes, including the multitrillion-rupiah free meals programme.
With the slogan “Indonesia in a State of Emergency: Citizens United Challenging the Government”, protesters were largely led by students from Trisakti University. They were joined by students from Mercu Buana University, Esa Unggul University as well as members of the Islamic Students Association.
Clad in their university jackets, protesters from Trisakti University presented three main demands, labelled Tritura Kembali (Revisited three people’s demands), which call for economic relief measures, a review of government programmes and officials’ performance and the strengthening of civilian supremacy.
A protester, Rifky Aditya Pratama from Mercu Buana University, called on the government to provide job opportunities for young Indonesians.
“Unfortunately, we feel the government is not prioritising this,” Rifky said on June 19. “It is instead focusing on programmes we consider less urgent, such as the free meals.”
The protest on June 19 came amid growing waves of street demonstrations beginning last week against Prabowo’s spending priorities.
The free meals programme, which has been budgeted at least 268 trillion rupiah (S$19.5 billion) in 2026, is aimed at providing free food to around 83 million beneficiaries, including schoolchildren and pregnant women. The rollout is part of the government’s measures to fight malnutrition and childhood stunting across the country.
But the programme has turned into a credibility test for Prabowo’s administration, with the rollout facing growing scrutiny over high costs, cases of food poisoning and a corruption investigation that has marred the initiative.
Despite a mounting push for the programme’s suspension, several government officials including Government Communications Agency head Muhammad Qodari have asserted the rollout would continue. Qodari argued the initiative is Prabowo’s core campaign promise and insisted the programme should be improved rather than discontinued or suspended.
The government has opted to take some cost-cutting measures, reducing the programme’s budget to 228.4 trillion rupiah, said Agustina Arumsari, deputy head of the National Nutrition Agency tasked to oversee the free meals programme.
At the beginning of 2026, the meals received an allocation of 335 trillion rupiah from the state budget.
The agency has also pledged sweeping efficiency measures, including suspending distribution during the upcoming school holiday period from late June to mid-July. It also planned to stop providing meals in 76 schools deemed to be located in areas with sufficient economic capacity to meet nutritional needs without government assistance.
Economist Achmad Nur Hidayat from public university UPN Veteran Jakarta questioned the government’s stance, saying the free meals roll-out should remain subject to evaluation and suspensions despite its status as one of the President’s key campaign promises.
“Public policy instruments shouldn’t become untouchable simply because they’re politically important,” Achmad said, arguing the government should be willing to redesign or suspend programmes if audits reveal flawed design, weak oversight or increasingly systemic deviations.
He also warned against the fallacy of citing a significant investment had been made on the programme as grounds for its continuation. Policymakers, Achmad went on to say, should instead prioritise measurable outcomes, such as food safety standards and reductions in malnutrition.
Center of Economic and Law Studies researcher Nailul Huda said the government’s focus on cutting the free meal budget is not sufficient to address the issue. He said: “The programme should be suspended for two or three months so a full evaluation can be carried out.”
He noted the current push for budget efficiency is mostly driven by budget constraints rather than a genuine intention for a comprehensive review.
“All existing kitchens should be audited, including their affiliations with government officials, so the root problems can be identified and addressed,” Huda said. “Without that, evaluation and efficiency are just empty talk.” THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
