JakartaPost-Feb 19, 2025
President Prabowo Subianto is facing the first major protests of his tenure just over three months after taking office, prompted by austerity measures intended to fund his ambitious campaign promises. Marching with flags and banners reading “Indonesia Gelap” (Dark Indonesia), thousands of students across the country recently took to the streets to protest new government policies they say are “increasingly repressive and harmful to the people”. The demonstrations, coordinated by the All-Indonesia Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM SI), opposed Prabowo’s new budget cuts, including to the education sector, to fund his free nutritious meals program. In January, the President issued a presidential instruction calling for a total of Rp 306.7 trillion ($18.7 billion) in cuts to state spending in 2025 to fund his initiatives. But on Saturday, the President said he was eyeing even more savings: over Rp 750 trillion through multiple phases of fiscal consolidation this year. The Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry will see up to Rp 8 trillion in cuts, including to a state-funded certification program for teachers nationwide that gives them access to monthly benefits. The nationwide student protests on Monday demanded, among other things, the cancellation of the budget cuts along with “a full evaluation” of the free meals program, demanding that the program “not be used as a mere political tool” and reach the targeted lower-income families. The rallies continued on Tuesday in Bali and Malang, East Java, with students dressed in black expressing their opposition to the public sector budget cuts, including to health care. “We hope the government will heed our aspirations,” BEM SI coordinator Herianto told The Jakarta Post, suggesting that the group would mobilize more protesters on Thursday if the government failed to address their demands. Read more at:
