President Prabowo Subianto cancels trip to China amid protests fuelled by economic discontent

Protesters on motorcycles fill a street at night as a police headquarters burns in the background, with flames lighting the scene.

Protesters gather near a burning police headquarters in the city of Surabaya on Sunday © AFP via Getty Images

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Diana Mariska in Jakarta

Published3 hours ago

|Updated11:01

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Crowds in Indonesia have broken into and looted the home of finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as protests spread across the country amid a deepening political crisis.

In the early hours of Sunday, a number of people entered Sri Mulyani’s residence near Jakarta and looted belongings including chairs and paintings, according to videos broadcast by local media. On Saturday, crowds raided the homes of three members of parliament.

The protests were triggered by a new housing perk that will see MPs receive an additional $3,000 to their monthly salary, but they also reflect growing economic discontent in a country hit by manufacturing job cuts and declining spending power for middle-class consumers.

The demonstrations became heated when a motorbike taxi driver was killed after being run over by a police vehicle during a rally in Jakarta on Thursday. Chaos has since erupted in several cities, including Makassar, where three people died during a fire at a regional parliament building.

Indonesian Army soldiers stand guard near a residential street as several people look on and others pass by on foot and motorcycle.

© Harry Suhartono/Bloomberg

“We can’t deny there are symptoms of unlawful actions, even those leading to treason and terrorism,” said Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto at a press conference on Sunday.

“I order the police and military to take the strongest possible action against destruction of public facilities and looting of homes and economic centres.”

During the same address, Prabowo announced parliament had agreed to cut back on benefits for members, such as allowances and foreign trips. He has cancelled a planned trip to a security summit in China in order to monitor the situation.

Public anger has so far mainly been channelled against parliamentarians, despite the president’s populist economic policies, which have involved big cuts to public spending to finance a programme of free school meals.

In Jakarta, bus stops and toll gates have been burned, causing disruption, and protesters continued to gather in some locations.

“We the lowly people are deeply disappointed with those sitting on the top,” said one protester, 56, who gave his name as Azis.

Crowds targeted the quarters of three parliament members, whose responses to criticism they regarded as particularly arrogant or insensitive.

One politician from the National Democratic party, Ahmad Sahroni, had previously called protesters “idiots” for wanting to reform the parliament. Hours after, looting of the minister’s residence was reported.

Sri Mulyani was appointed by the previous administration of Joko Widodo and has served as finance minister since 2016. Formerly a managing director of the World Bank, she is well respected as a technocrat in the financial and international communities.

However, she has been in the spotlight since her office approved the Prabowo efficiency plan, which led to public spending cuts in areas including transfers to regional governments.

Shares on the Jakarta stock exchange closed down 1.5 per cent on Friday while the rupiah slid 0.8 per cent against the dollar.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5768140&forum_id=2!#49226248)