Indonesian Riots Escalate Further — Prabowo Makes Concessions, Willing to Cancel Multiple Parliamentary Allowances

(Jakarta, 1st) Protests in Indonesia are intensifying, with the residences of the finance minister and several parliamentarians heavily looted and damaged. President Prabowo appeared to calm the situation and made concessions, promising to cancel a number of parliamentary allowances that sparked widespread anger.
On Sunday afternoon (August 31), Prabowo addressed the nation via live television from the presidential palace, responding to public demands over Indonesia's continuously escalating turmoil over the past week. He said that parliamentary leaders had agreed to abolish several parliamentary allowances, and suspend overseas visits by MPs.
Prabowo made his statement accompanied by parliamentary leaders and party heads. He said that parliament and party leaders had conveyed to parliamentarians the requirement to be cautious in their speech at all times and to always stand on the side of the people's interest.
Over the past week, crowds have poured into the streets of the capital Jakarta and several major cities, protesting against parliamentarians receiving excessively high salaries and housing allowances. What began as a peaceful demonstration gradually turned violent on Thursday (28th) afternoon, when a private-hire motorcycle rider was accidentally run over and killed by a riot-control vehicle, dramatically intensifying tensions between police and civilians.
By the past weekend, violence had rapidly escalated. In addition to national buildings being set on fire, the private residence of Finance Minister Mulyani and several MPs who had made controversial remarks were looted by mobs.
Witnesses revealed that in the early hours of Sunday, the mob broke through the security defenses of Mulyani's private home located in the southern area of Tangerang city in West Jakarta, destroyed property, and looted valuable items such as electronics, artwork, and furniture. Most of the mob were young people, some of whom were armed.
At the time of the incident, Mulyani was not in the house.
Others who became targets of public anger included National Democratic Party (NasDem) MP Ahmad Sahroni and Nafa Urbach, as well as National Mandate Party (PAN) MPs Uya Kuya and Eko Patrio.
Ahmad Sahroni, in response to public calls to dissolve parliament, described the people as "the most foolish people in the world;" Nafa aroused anger by defending the MP monthly housing allowance of 50 million Rupiah (about S$3,857). Uya and Eko were criticized for footage of them dancing and waving their arms at the parliamentary annual meeting that circulated online, accused of being out of touch with the masses. All four have been suspended from their parliamentary positions by their parties.
On Sunday, Prabowo reiterated in his televised statement that the government respects freedom of speech and will safeguard the right of people to hold peaceful assemblies; however, the authorities will not tolerate acts of anarchy such as destruction of public property and looting.
He noted that unlawful behaviors are starting to appear among the protesters, nearly constituting subversion, akin to terrorism. He has instructed the military and police to take the most severe action according to the law against the destruction of public facilities and the looting of private property.

Due to the escalation of violence, social media platform TikTok announced on Saturday (30th) that it would suspend live streaming functions in Indonesia for the next few days to maintain a safe and civil space on its platform.

This round of protests is the most severe test for Prabowo's government since it came to power in October last year. Liu Minli, Senior Research Fellow and Indonesia Studies Programme Coordinator at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told Lianhe Zaobao that the depth of public anger can be seen from people breaking into multiple government buildings and looting MPs' homes.
She believes the situation is still under control, but regarding the incident of the riot-control vehicle running over and killing the motorcycle rider, the Indonesian government should be more decisive in punishing the seven police officers involved, as "this is definitely not an isolated incident, but rather the tip of the iceberg of the rage of Indonesia's poorest classes."
Liu Minli said this protest stems from decades of corruption and poor governance leading to structural issues, and thus the situation is unlikely to return to normal in the short term. Politicians making thoughtless remarks disconnected from the realities of people's lives only makes things more complicated.
"The first step the president may need to take is to sack some people, but even that won't solve all the problems."
Wasisto Raharjo Jati, political researcher at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency, argued that the government should comprehensively discuss and collaborate with the public to respond to people's basic demands and expectations.