Jakarta – The All Indonesia Student Executive Council (BEM SI) is holding a marathon of simultaneous actions in different regions of Indonesia from Monday February 17 through to Wednesday February 19. The theme being taken up at the demonstrations is "Dark Indonesia" (Indonesia Gelap).
In Jakarta, protesters began to arriving at the Horse Statue near the State Palace at around 2.42 pm. CNN Indonesia observed that a command vehicle was already at the location along with dozens of students wearing various alma mater jackets.
Upon arriving, they appeared to stop immediately in front of the concrete barricades and razor wire that had earlier been installed by police. In a speech, one of the speakers criticised President Prabowo Subianto's education budget cuts.
"By cutting the health budget and education budget, hundreds of thousands of students are at risk of not attending college. Hundreds of thousands of students next semester will not receive KIPK [Smart Indonesia Student Cards] because of the education budget cuts", said the speaker from the command vehicle.
Dark Indonesia
BEM SI coordinator Herianto explained that the Dark Indonesia theme is being taken up to criticise the lack of clarity of various polices by the Prabowo administration.
"In general, by 'Dark Indonesia' we mean that today's policies, which are always issued and promised in darkness without any light", Herianto told CNN Indonesia on Monday.
Herianto said that this theme was also a satire of President Prabowo who often touts Golden Indonesia 2045.
"This is a strong satire, how can Indonesia be golden, while the policies presented do not side with the younger generation who should be the pioneers of this gold", he explained. "For example jobs opportunities, education which is not yet adequate", he said.
Thousands of police deployed
Earlier, Central Jakarta Metro Police Chief Senior Commissioner Susatyo Purnomo Condro said 1,623 personnel had been deployed to secure the demonstration. "A total of 1,623 personnel have been deployed to provide security. [For] the BEM SI and other alliance groups", he said.
Condro explained that thousands of personnel would be distributed at a number of points around the city starting from the Horse Statue traffic circle to the front of the State Palace. With regard to traffic management, Condro said this was still situational and road closures and the rerouting of traffic will be carried out if there is an increase in the number of protesters.
Five demands
Herianto explained that there are five demands being taken by the demonstrators during the three-day action. One of them is to urge Prabowo to revoke the budget efficiency policy.
"One, demanding that the president to revoke Presidential Instruction Number 1/2025 [on budget cuts and efficiency] which is detrimental to the ordinary people. Two, transparency in the status of development [projects]", Herianto told CNN Indonesia on Monday.
The other demands are full transparency in the free nutritious meals (MBG) program, rejecting the recent revisions to the Mineral and Coal Mining Law (UU Minerba), rejecting the dual socio-political function (dwi-fungsi) of the Indonesian Military (TNI), the arrest and trial of former president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the enactment of the Draft Law on Asset Confiscation.
Furthermore, Herianto predicted that the action on the first day in Jakarta at the Horse Statue would be attended by around 5 thousand students from various universities. "[Meanwhile the actions] in the regions, the actions will be located in front of respective Regional Houses of Representatives", he said.
He added that the climax of the Dark Indonesia actions on Wednesday are likely to be held in front of the parliamentary complex in Jakarta. Herianto said he was sure that the number of protesters at the action would increase.
Further demonstrations
The Dark Indonesia protesters also threatened to hold further demonstrations if the government does not follow up on their demands. Field action coordinator Bagas Wisnu urged President Prabowo and his officials to immediately respond to the demands raised by the civil society coalition.
"If not, then similar actions will continue in various regions throughout Indonesia. Signed the coalition of civil society", Wisnu said while reading out a statement the Horse Statue on Monday.
[Abridged translation by James Balowski based on four articles by CNN Indonesia on February 17. The original title of the lead article was "Aksi Indonesia Gelap, Mahasiswa Mulai Padati Kawasan Patung Kuda".]
