Elite Intrigues Behind the Disturbances

September 9, 2025 | 05:02 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Police discovered the involvement of soldiers in the violent demonstrations in August. Simmering conflict between elites.

THE demonstrations in Jakarta that spread to a number of cities were the result of President Prabowo Subianto’s inability to identify the root cause of public anger. Trapped in the hallucination of power, Prabowo is only able to read the symptoms on the surface.

Prabowo isolated the problem that triggered protests in various places to simply a matter of high allowances for members of the House of Representatives (DPR). However, that was only the tip of the iceberg of public disappointment with policies that do not side with the people.

Public anger was not triggered by a short-lived event. It has grown since the administration of Joko Widodo wrecked democracy, manipulated the law, and marginalized the people in development. And the DPR was never critical, having been turned into a rubber stamp.

The same has happened under the administration of Prabowo. He handed out seats to his supporters and offered positions to non-coalition parties in order to ensure there would be no opposition. The political elite produced policies that have done nothing to improve the welfare of the people.

Meanwhile, at the grassroots level, the people are trapped. The price of groceries has soared. There are widespread layoffs. Business is sluggish because the government has cut funding in order to pay for Prabowo’s flagship programs.

This accumulated disappointment finally exploded into public anger. The signs of this were evident in Pati, Central Java. People demonstrated against the 250 percent rise in property tax. Protests spread to a number of cities, and led to demonstrators calling for the dissolution of the DPR. The death of online motorbike taxi driver Affan Kurniawan, who was run over by a Jakarta Metropolitan Police Mobile Brigade tactical vehicle, triggered angry reactions around the country.

The political elite then fanned the flames: a Tempo investigation has uncovered similarities between the people torching government offices and public facilities in different locations. In general, they wore white hooded jackets and masks. They brought gasoline and destroyed security cameras at the locations.

The police have uncovered the role of soldiers behind the violence. A soldier who was arrested told police that he was assessing the situation on the ground. At that time, the police had not asked the military to work to maintain security. Tempo also uncovered allegations that soldiers provoked violence by assembling groups of youths using a WhatsApp chat group and setting fire to government offices in Kendal, Central Java.

There are indications that the violence was closely linked to the feuds between officials closest to Prabowo. There have long been reports of a power struggle between Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and DPR Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad. Confused by contradictory information and policy options, Prabowo often receives misleading accounts.

Another analysis: Prabowo is aware of the feud but is exploiting the tensions to strengthen his own political position. Away from the Sjafrie-Dasco tensions, there is a long-running conflict between the Indonesian Military and the police, as well as infighting in the National Police, which is believed to relate to the aspirations of a certain general who wants the police chief to be replaced.

Prabowo is isolated in the Palace. Instead of uncovering the mastermind behind the riots, he made accusations of foreign involvement. He even labeled the civilian protesters as traitors and terrorists. Prabowo used this tired old rhetoric to cover up his inability to resolve the problem.

We should look again at what happened in Bangladesh in 2024. Demonstrations and riots that ended with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India were triggered by chronic inequality. Students demanded Hasina step down. The demonstrations turned violent, and hundreds of people died.

The events in Bangladesh cannot be allowed to happen in Indonesia. If Prabowo continues to close his eyes to rivalries between the elites, it could reignite the flames simmering underground. His suspicions about many things—which have led to him limiting his communication to only his closest aides—have made him blind and deaf.

President Prabowo Subianto does not have much time to put things right. He needs to remember the words of American activist James Baldwin: “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.”

Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

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