Violent clashes have erupted in Indonesia between the riot police and protesters demanding the withdrawal of financial perks for lawmakers, while common people are reportedly being paid low wages.
Tensions soared across the country on Sunday after the video of a delivery rider being allegedly run over by an armoured police vehicle during a rally last week went viral, prompting anger in several cities of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
A fire started by the protesters at a council building in eastern Indonesia killed at least three people, a local official said on Saturday.
The protests are the biggest and most violent of Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, a key test for the ex-general, less than a year into his rule.
Protesters gathered again in different areas of Indonesia’s vast archipelago over the weekend. Hundreds of students and “ojek” motorcycle taxi drivers protested in front of police headquarters in Bali, Indonesia’s most popular tourist hotspot.
Hundreds of students in Surabaya also rallied outside the East Java police headquarters, as social media app TikTok said it had temporarily suspended its live feature for “a few days” in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users.
In the capital, Jakarta, hundreds had massed on Friday outside the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob), the paramilitary police unit they blamed for motorcycle gig driver Affan Kurniawan’s death the day before.
President Prabowo urged calm and ordered an investigation into the driver’s death, saying the officers involved will be held accountable.
On Saturday, he cancelled a planned trip to China next week for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II to monitor the situation at home.
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