Indonesia: protests getting larger after ride-share driver killed

On Monday, seemingly out of nowhere, thousands upon thousands of young people took to the streets in Indonesia. Gathering in front of the parliament building and valiantly facing down hundreds of police officers with water cannons, they shouted “Down with the parliament!”. Street fighting between the protesters and the police continued until past midnight. By morning, 400 people had been arrested, including about 200 school students.

This was followed by an even fiercer demonstration in Jakarta on Thursday, which resulted in the death of a delivery driver, who was rammed by an armoured vehicle driven by the police. At time of writing (29 August), demonstrations are ongoing and have spread to many cities, with increasingly violent clashes with the police as the masses express their anger over the killing.

The immediate issue that sparked this protest was the decision by members of parliament to grant themselves a lavish spending allowance. Amid the strict austerity measures that Prabowo Subianto’s government implemented earlier this year, these ‘people’s representatives’ decided that they deserve a monthly housing allowance of Rp50 million (US$3,075). This brings their total monthly income to Rp239 million (US$14,600), which is 50 times that of the average worker.

Naturally, politicians have tried to justify their big paychecks. Vice Chair of the House, Adies Kadir, nonchalantly stated that they would need to rent a larger house to accommodate their maids and private drivers. He even had the gall to add that his food allowance was only [!] Rp12 million per month, while most workers would consider themselves very lucky to earn Rp4 million in a month in total.

This quickly created a storm on social media. “12 million rupiah can buy you 40 sacks of rice. Go ahead and eat them!” said one user. Another added, “Food allowance for public sector workers and pensioners is only Rp72,000 per month.”

Another member of parliament, artist-turned-politician Nafa Urbach, said that she needed this housing allowance so she could rent a house near the parliament to avoid traffic jams. This only sparked further backlash on social media, with one user saying: “People from Bogor who work in Jakarta have to leave their house before dawn. Taking a crowded commuter train, and they don’t get a housing allowance, ma’am.”

Every word that comes out of the politicians’ mouths just adds fuel to the fire, as it shows how out of touch they are with the masses they are supposed to represent.

This public anger has, in fact, been accumulating since Prabowo implemented a nearly 20 percent cut to the state budget earlier this year. Carried out in the name of ‘government efficiency’, the cuts were immediately passed to working people to foot the bill.

The first response against this attack on the working class was the Dark Indonesia movement back in February. After weathering the onslaught of this mass movement, the regime was feeling quite confident, which explains their arrogant decision to increase their own allowances while the poor were told to tighten their belts. But the austerity budget has built dynamite into the government’s foundations.

Every word that comes out of the politicians’ mouths just adds fuel to the fire / Image: Maria Cynthia, Wikimedia Commons

We predicted that the Dark Indonesia movement would be a prelude to an even greater upheaval, and months later, that upheaval erupted from the most unexpected place.

On 13 August, a massive protest broke out in Pati – a small regency on the northern coast of Central Java – in response to the government’s decision to increase property tax by 250 percent. With the central government’s austerity budget, financial support for the provinces had been drastically cut, forcing provincial and municipal governments to raise taxes to fill in the gaps. In Pati alone, Rp50 billion had been cut.

One week before the planned demonstration, Pati Regent Sudewo arrogantly challenged the people: “Go ahead, protest. Don’t just mobilise 5,000 people, bring out 50,000 people. I am not afraid. I will not change my decision.” In the end, an estimated 100,000 people – out of a population of 1.3 million – descended upon Pati Regency Hall, where the demonstration quickly turned into an open rebellion.

Regent Sudewo hid inside the regency hall and only emerged after being urged by the police chief to address the demonstrators, as his police forces had lost control of the situation. Under a hail of bottles, vegetables, stones, and any objects the masses could lay their hands on, Sudewo was forced to apologise and rescind his tax increase. But the people had tasted their own power, and they demanded his immediate resignation.

After spreading to several cities, there seemed to be signs that this movement against tax increases might have subsided. But the decision by members of parliament to give themselves a raise was just too much for the masses. It immediately sparked an unstoppable wave of demonstrations that has now reached semi-insurrectionary proportions.

On Monday, a spontaneous demonstration broke out, led by the youth. The protest was not organised by the usual university student unions (BEM) but mainly through social media. There was also a significant turnout from school students, who showed no fear against the police and were on the front lines in confronting them. It was these school students who gave the movement such explosive energy and militancy.

The youth did not just demand the cancellation of the housing allowance, they also demanded for the House of Representatives to be disbanded. “Down with the House of Representatives!” was their main slogan. They immediately connected the lavish lifestyle of their elected representatives with the very existence of this corrupt institution. They correctly understand that this is a systemic issue, that the entire system is corrupt. They might not know exactly what should replace this body, but they know that they do not want it and do not need it.

The police immediately went on the offensive against them, believing they could cow the youth into retreat, as they had previously. Yet this time it was different. Young people see no future for themselves under the current conditions and thus rightfully feel that there is no way out but to fight.

Recent reports show that one million university graduates and 1.6 million vocational school graduates are unemployed. A recent viral video of thousands of people lining up to apply for just 50 job openings illustrates how desperate the situation has become for the youth. There was even a story of university graduates applying for jobs as street sweepers. One of them stated: “It is better to sweep the street than sleep on the street.”

When police began beating and arresting the young protesters, many local residents stepped in to defend them / Image: fair use

Furthermore, the youth can feel the full sympathy of the people behind them. When police began beating and arresting the young protesters, many local residents stepped in to defend them. In one video, when the police entered a restaurant to arrest a group of young people who took refuge there, the workers and patrons put themselves between the police and the protesters, in an attempt to protect them.

In another instance, residents of an apartment complex rescued a young protester who was surrounded by police officers trying to arrest him. Attempts by the government and their paid media to portray the demonstrators as violent anarchists are no longer effective. The broad masses see that these young people are fighting for their cause.

The death of Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old delivery driver (ojol driver), has sparked further escalation. Videos of police brutality against the protesters over the past few days had been shared throughout social media, eliciting disgust and anger among the public. People could already sense that, at this level of brutality, it was only a matter of time before someone lost their life.

This ultimately took place on Thursday evening, during one of the street battles, as police rammed an armored vehicle into the demonstrators, killing one of them. This escalated the entire movement. Public fury surged both online and in the streets, as the video of this brutal killing went viral.

Immediately afterwards, thousands of delivery drivers surrounded the police station to demand justice. Thousands more joined them in the morning, and riots broke out as protesters tried to occupy the police station. Prior to this, ojol drivers – many of whom are young people unable to find formal employment – had already been seen at the demonstrations. Today, they are mobilising in their tens of thousands across Indonesia.

At time of writing, an unrelenting tide of demonstrations has swept the nation. Students, ojol drivers, and working people are gathering in even larger numbers today in front of police stations and parliament buildings. The government has attempted to calm the situation by offering their condolences and promising to prosecute those responsible for the death of the ojol driver. But while they offer a carrot with one hand, their other hand violently wields a stick against the people. We must not be fooled by this tactic and must remain vigilant.

The situation is developing rapidly. The crisis of capitalism and all its consequences are finally expressing themselves in Indonesia. This wave of demonstrations must be followed by a call for a general strike. However, the movement cannot rely on the current trade union leaders to call for such a strike, as they have shown themselves to be loyal lackeys of the ruling class.

As young people are being beaten on the streets, these reformist leaders are telling their members not to be provoked by irresponsible ‘anarchist’ elements. On Thursday, they deliberately organised their demonstration in the morning and instructed their members to go home early to prevent them from coming into contact with the youth, fearing that their militancy could be contagious. The movement must establish their own action committees in neighbourhoods and schools, to further coordinate the movement, form self-defence units against police brutality, and to escalate the struggle into a general strike. This is the only way to deal a fatal blow to the government.