Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday condemned violent protests over economic conditions and inequality, warning that some actions were “leaning towards treason and terrorism.”
The country has been gripped by unrest in recent days, with demonstrations erupting in major cities including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya and Medan.
The protests were sparked by public anger over lawmakers receiving housing allowances nearly 10 times higher than the minimum wage in Jakarta, and were inflamed after a motorcycle taxi driver, Affan Kurniawan, was fatally run over by a police tactical vehicle during an earlier rally.
Prabowo said peaceful assembly must be respected but warned that looting and the destruction of public property would be met with state intervention. His remarks came after the home of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was ransacked, and soldiers were deployed to guard her residence. Several other lawmakers’ homes have also been attacked.
The violence has left at least three people dead after protesters set fire to a council building in Makassar. Two workers were killed at the scene, while a civil servant later died in hospital. Protesters also torched a local council building on Lombok island and set fire to a police headquarters in Surabaya.
The protests mark the most serious challenge to Prabowo less than a year into his presidency. He has canceled a planned trip to China next week to monitor the crisis and has ordered an investigation into the driver’s death, with seven officers detained for questioning.
Prabowo, who campaigned on promises of rapid state-led growth, has already faced backlash over government budget cuts. In response to the unrest, TikTok suspended its live-streaming feature for users in Indonesia, where the app has more than 100 million users.
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