President Prabowo Subianto shares protesters’ concerns over the climate crisis and the cost of living, his spokesperson said, responding to a viral Greenpeace stunt that capped a day of protests dominated by anger over the haze.
The government welcomed Greenpeace Indonesia’s hanging of two banners on Jakarta’s iconic Bundaran HI, criticising, among other things, the government’s response to the forest fire crisis that has sent haze across South-East Asia, said Head of the Government Communication Agency (Bakom) Syahganda Nainggolan.
“The government respects Greenpeace’s action this morning as a form of freedom of expression. The impact of the climate crisis and cost of living for citizens are also matters that the President (Prabowo Subianto) is concerned about,” Syahganda said in a statement released on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, which marks Prabowo’s two years as president, Greenpeace Indonesia activists unfurled two giant banners from the top of the Welcome Statue at the Bundaran HI in Central Jakarta.
One banner read, in Indonesian: “Take action on the climate crisis, bring down the cost of living”.
The other read: “Disasters are getting worse, the people are struggling, what is the government doing?”
As they descended from the monument, two activists also held up smaller signs in English: “Haze & Prabowo’s regime = National disaster” and “No progress without protest”.
Though the banners were quickly taken down by police, photos and videos of the stunt have gone viral on Indonesian social media.
Many online commenters agreed with the messages on the banners and praised the activists’ bravery.
“This is so cool,” one wrote. “Please raise banners like this in other places too.”
Greenpeace’s actions were just one among a slew of protests in several cities held to coincide with the anniversary of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran administration, most of which put the forest fires and haze on centre stage. — The Straits Times/ANN
