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The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta urged Americans on August 27 to avoid Indonesia’s parliament complex and other protest sites as demonstrators gathered in the capital. Indonesia deployed at least 18,000 police near the parliamentary building, and police buses and military trucks lined Jakarta’s main roads, according to the Indonesian outlet Tempo.
The rallies fell one year after a wave of anti-government protests turned violent across Indonesia. At least 10 people were killed in that unrest last August, nearly 7,000 were arrested, and hundreds were sentenced. Students planned marches on Thursday in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Makassar, calling for harsher penalties for corruption and lower food prices. Turnout by Thursday morning was modest, with a few hundred people gathered near parliament.
In Jakarta, three groups were expected to protest. Students demanded an end to President Prabowo Subianto’s free meals program and to what they called the militarization of civilian life. About 200 members of the United Pati Community Alliance, a grassroots group from Central Java, gathered outside parliament in black shirts and pressed lawmakers to pass an asset forfeiture bill. A separate group rallied in support of Prabowo.
The embassy warned that even peaceful demonstrations can escalate and bring road closures and traffic disruptions, and it advised Americans to avoid crowds and monitor local media. Prabowo’s approval rating fell to 38 percent in August, according to a Tempo poll, as his populist spending programs drew criticism from investors and the public. Chief security minister Djamari Chaniago said the deployment was meant to protect protesters rather than suppress them. “We will escort them so their aspirations can be conveyed properly,” he said.
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