Source: Shangguan News
The regional parliament building was burned, the police station headquarters was attacked, tear bullets and stones fled.
According to World Wide Web, protests in Indonesia that have lasted for a week have intensified due to dissatisfaction with high subsidies from members of parliament and government austerity measures have spread from the capital Jakarta to many regions.
Public opinion believes that Indonesian President Prabowo has been in power for nearly a year, and this protest demonstration has the largest scale, the widest scope and the highest level of violence, which is the first major test he faced during his term of office. Prabowo canceled his scheduled visit to China to cope with the domestic situation.
Why did the protests start?
The protests began earlier this week when thousands gathered in the capital and tried to storm the parliament building.
High congressional subsidies have been seen as a spark of anger.
According to Indonesian reports, the government introduced a new subsidy last year, and all 580 lawmakers will receive a monthly housing subsidy of 50 million Indonesian rupiah (about 3,075 US dollars) in addition to their salary.
The new subsidy is almost 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta and about 20 times the minimum wage per month in poor areas of the country.
Critics argue that people are struggling with rising prices, taxes and unemployment rates, and the new allowances are not only too high, but also untimely.
Protest organizers called for cuts in MPs 'wages and ridiculed MPs as "corrupt elites."
Demonstrators also demanded an increase in the minimum wage according to the inflation rate.
Things beyond expectation.
On the 28th, a video of the driver's death spread crazy on social media and shocked the country, the situation rapidly worsened.
The 21-year-old motorcyclist, who worked for a ride-hailing company, was said to have died after being struck by an armoured police vehicle as riot police dispersed a crowd of protesters while handling a takeout order.
The sudden and fatal incident further angered protesters.
On the 29th, demonstrators arrived at the headquarters of the Jakarta Police Mobile Unit, causing traffic to be paralyzed by some people who vandalized traffic signs and other infrastructure.
It was also that a lawmaker’s home in Jakarta was robbed.
In the second-largest city, protests broke up fences and burned vehicles, and even stormed into the governor’s office.
On the same day, a fire broke out in the parliamentary building of the city of Garcie, the capital of South Sulawesi, killing three people.
Mapatoba, secretary of the Makassar City Council, admitted that the situation had exceeded expectations.
“Usually during demonstrations, protesters just threw stones or burned tires outside the office building, never stormed into the parliamentary building, let alone set fire.”
On the 30th, demonstrators burned parliamentary buildings in three districts of the city of Sheraton, in the province of Sinusadengara, in the city of Matalan, in the city of Northern Guaja, in the province of Central Java, and in the city of Sheraton, in the province of West Java.
Indonesian National Police Commissioner Listio Sigit Prabowo said on the 30th that protests in many places have escalated into riots and the police and military will take immediate action to restore social order.
Currently, the demonstrations have spread across Indonesia, including the cities of Sunrise, Wanzhou, Mumbai, Wanzhou, Bao Monopoly and others.
Even the resort's Bali was not "survived", with protesters being shot with tear bullets as they clashed with the police.
In view of the escalation of protests, Short Video app TikTok said on the 30th that it had suspended its live broadcast function in Indonesia to prevent the spread of false information.
Recently, the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia reminded Chinese citizens and institutions in Indonesia to strengthen security precautions.
The first major test.
Public opinion believes that the outbreak of mass protests in Indonesia is the first major test for President Prabowo, who has been in office for less than a year.
Last October, the military strongman became president, beginning a five-year term.
Prabowo promised to expand external investment, create more jobs, crack down on corruption, seeking to increase economic growth to 8% within five years.
But Prabowo's goal is considered too ambitious, and the government measures fail to match the goal.
Since taking office, the government has slashed its budget to implement a $1 billion free meal program, while layoffs, job shortages and high living costs in industries such as manufacturing have left people struggling.
The public opinion pointed out that the people are "deep fire hot", but the government is self-sufficient, and the people's anger has been accumulating for a long time, this move is more oil poured on the fire.
The riots have hit the Indonesian market.
On the last trading day of this week, the Indonesian stock market once fell by 2.1%, the biggest drop in two months. The Indonesian rupiah fell 0.8% against the dollar, the worst performer among Asian currencies.
Market analysts say Indonesian stocks, bonds and Indonesian shields are under pressure as policy uncertainty increases and social unrest risks rise.
Take countermeasures
Observers say the US abuse of tariffs increases the uncertainty of Indonesia’s economy, and a potential future economic recession could make the situation worse if the government fails to respond to the demands of the people, properly solve the problem, or will trigger a domino effect, ultimately threatening Prabhupada’s rule.
At present, Prabowo has taken a series of crisis response measures, including calming people's emotions, rebuilding government trust, and taking measures to stop atrocities.
In a video speech on the 29th, Prabowo called on the people to remain calm and believe in the government and his leadership.
On the same day, he went to the home of the dead driver to express condolences to his parents, and vowed to thoroughly investigate the cause of death and demand that the police be held accountable.
Prabowo also ordered the military and police to take decisive action to stop the violent acts of wanton vandalism by thugs.
At the same time, Prabowo cancelled his trip to China due to domestic tensions.
Prabhupada was scheduled to attend the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japan and the World War of Anti-Fascism held in Beijing on September 3.
The presidential spokesman said in a video statement on the 30th that Prabowo wanted to stay at home and continue to pay attention to the situation and seek the best solution, so he was unable to be invited to participate in the commemorative activities. He would like to apologize to the China government.
(Editor's email: ylq@jfdaily.com)