Students who have led large protests in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, called for more demonstrations on Friday, a day after a young motorcycle taxi driver was killed when the authorities responded with force to a protest near Parliament.
The protests, which began on Monday, have been driven by rising unemployment and inflation, with many of the demonstrators calling for an end to housing allowances for lawmakers that were seen as lavish. On Thursday, police officers in riot gear fired tear gas canisters and drove armored vehicles into crowds of protesters, some of whom had been throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers.
The taxi driver, Affan Kurniawan, 21, was run over by one of the police vehicles. On Friday, the All-Indonesia Students’ Union, which has helped to organize the protests, called for demonstrations against police brutality. The Jakarta Provincial Government said it would “provide full assistance” for Mr. Kurniawan’s funeral on Friday.
“We hope all parties can exercise self-control and prioritize peaceful resolution,” Gov. Pramono Anung of Jakarta said in a statement. “Jakarta is our shared home, and we must maintain its harmony and order.”
The unemployment rate in Indonesia will be the highest in Southeast Asia this year, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Critics have accused President Prabowo Subianto, who took office last year, of mismanaging the economy by directing government spending toward expensive projects like a national school lunch program.
The police’s use of force against protesters this week has revived many Indonesians’ fears that democracy and civil rights would suffer under Mr. Prabowo, a former general. He was discharged from the military in 1998 for his involvement in the abduction and torture of pro-democracy activists under the rule of the dictator Suharto, who was once his father-in-law.
In a video released on Friday, Mr. Prabowo said that the police’s actions on Thursday were “excessive” and called for calm. Protest leaders were planning demonstrations for Friday afternoon in Jakarta and in other Indonesian cities. Some demonstrations were already underway in the capital.
The national police chief, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is not related to the president, apologized on Thursday to Mr. Kurniawan’s family and to motorcycle taxi drivers, saying in a statement that the police were investigating Mr. Kurniawan’s death.
The tensions seemed to unnerve some investors. Jakarta Stock Exchange’s composite index fell by 2.3 percent on Friday, making it the day’s worst-performing index in Asia.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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