JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians rallied across the country on Monday (Sep 1) as the military was deployed in the capital after six people were killed in nationwide protests over lavish perks for lawmakers that escalated into violent anger against the police.
At least 300 protesters gathered outside the nation’s parliament in Jakarta on Monday afternoon as dozens of soldiers watched.
Thousands more rallied in Palembang on Sumatra island and hundreds gathered in Banjarmasin on Borneo island and Yogyakarta on the main island of Java, according to AFP journalists around the country.
“Our main goal is to reform the parliament. We hope the parliament will come out and meet us. We want to talk to them directly, they are our representatives,” prostester and university student Nafta Keisya Kemalia, 20, told AFP.
“Do they want to wait until we have a martial law?”
The protests began in Jakarta a week ago and have spread nationwide, escalating in size and intensity after a police vehicle hit and killed a motorcycle taxi driver on Thursday night.
On Sunday, President Prabowo Subianto said political parties had agreed to cut lawmakers’ benefits, in an attempt to calm the protests in which at least five people have died.
He also ordered the military and police to take stern action against rioters and looters after homes of political party members and state buildings were ransacked or set ablaze.
Police set up checkpoints across the capital on Monday, while officers and the military conducted city-wide patrols and deployed snipers in key locations, while the usually traffic-clogged streets were quieter than usual.
Hundreds of soldiers were camped at the city’s national monument and some were stationed outside the presidential palace, according to an AFP journalist.
At least one group, the Alliance of Indonesian Women, said late Sunday it had cancelled its planned protest because of heightened security.
The capital’s police force paraded a convoy of armoured cars and motorbikes outside parliament late Sunday, in a show of force as they attempt to warn off protesters.
Schools and universities in Jakarta were holding classes online until at least Tuesday, and civil servants based in the city were asked to work from home.
