Grassroots Solidarity in Public Anger

September 2, 2025 | 02:40 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - From demonstrating demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives, the mass actions have now become a show of precariat solidarity targeting the ignorant elite.

THE death of Affan Kurniawan on August 28, 2025, was a tragedy. The 21-year-old online motorbike taxi driver was run over by a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) tactical vehicle while he was in a crowd using their right of expression in a demonstration demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives (DPR). Affan’s death sparked public anger that spread to a number of regions.

The demonstrations have now transitioned into precariat solidarity. Their target is no longer the politicians who caused the disturbances by their unsympathetic statements and actions. The mob targeted the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Mobile Brigade headquarters in Kwitang, Central Jakarta. The condolences from President Prabowo Subianto and his promise of severe punishment for Affan’s killers did not quell the crowd’s anger.

The demand for the dissolution of the DPR is perhaps not a politically clear grassroots civil movement. The demonstrators understand that this is not a constitutional or democratic demand. The 2001 Special Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly added Article 7c to the 1945 Constitution to protect the DPR from being suspended, even through a presidential decree. But this demand can be considered as a manifestation of public anger over the conduct of the elite, who no longer represent the public interest.

Affan’s death made the people realize that the root cause of this recent chaos is not simply the behavior of politicians. Police arrogance, arbitrary law enforcement, and government policies that are not in the public interest are the main problems with the Prabowo Subianto administration.

This widespread anger has its roots in the fact that the President has not shown any willingness to resolve the problems bequeathed to him by President Joko Widodo. After 10 years of his presidency, Jokowi left behind legal and administrative problems that resulted in a sluggish economy. He turned the police into a tool of the government by providing funding privileges and top jobs.

But rather than reforming the police into professional law enforcers, Prabowo created a balanced force by glorifying the military. The two armed institutions now compete for influence. On the ground, they provide backing for tycoons through law enforcement and force. As a result, police repression against people involved in good deeds, such as making laws and policies, is increasingly brutal.

We fear we will not get through this current chaos because the government has made no moves to bring calm. The huge demonstrations in Pati, Central Java, on August 10, 2025, were not resolved in a way that addressed the root of the problem. The people of Pati called for the resignation of Regent Sudewo because he arbitrarily increased taxes during an economic slowdown. But he has still not stepped down, and the central government seems to be protecting him.

The demonstrations in Pati and the mass actions in Jakarta, and subsequently other major cities, are a loud message to the Prabowo administration, with its lack of empathy. At a time when there are layoffs in many industries, budget cuts leading to an economic slowdown, and various taxes and tariffs burdening the people, Prabowo is busy travelling overseas, and his aides are dancing with no awareness of place or time.

As if in a dream, Prabowo continues to make speeches as if Indonesia were heading for greatness. In his statement on the death of Affan, he asked the people to trust his administration, which is endeavoring to advance Indonesia. Prabowo appears to be sitting in an ivory tower and living under his own illusions, that have caused him to lose his connection with the pulse of public opinion.

If Prabowo continues to isolate himself from the very real problems, these demonstrations could spiral into violence and become even larger than the events of May 1998, when a regional economic crisis triggered political instability. Then, Indonesia still had friends to make the difficult journey with. Now, social unrest leading to political and economic instability has afflicted Indonesia alone.

We hope that it is not too late for the government and the legislative and judicial branches to return to the path of the Reformasi by convincing the people that they will put them first through rational policies. Before the public anger explodes.

Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

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