Leaders of the House of Representatives held talks with protesters following a series of protests launched by university students in the past week to urge for a re-evaluation of President Prabowo Subianto’s spending priorities and flagship programmes, among other demands.
On Friday evening, 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, 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.
“It is instead focusing on programmes we consider less urgent, such as the free meals.”
The free meals programme, which has been budgeted at least 268 trillion rupiah (RM62.3bil) 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.
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.
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. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
