AMJ Gives Government One Week to Continue Free Nutritious Meals Programme
Protesters from the Jakarta Community Alliance (AMJ) held a demonstration in support of President Prabowo Subianto and his flagship programme, the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG), at the Monas National Monument intersection on Monday, 22 June 2026. Alliance representatives stated they were received by the Deputy Minister of State Secretariat, Juri Ardiantoro, for an audience.
The Alliance Coordinator, Edy Marzuki, noted that the meeting with Juri took’s place at the State Secretariat Office for 30 minutes. “We conveyed our demands so that they may be passed on to the President,” Edy said at the protest site following the meeting.
Edy stated that the group has two primary demands. First, the MBG programme must continue. Second, he demanded that Prabowo imprison corruptors and oligarchs who profit from corruption within the MBG programme.
According to Edy, his alliance has given the government one week to respond to these demands. If there is no follow-up, he stated that the Alliance is prepared to organise further demonstrations with even larger crowds. “If the MBG programme is not continued in the coming week, we may open the floodgates for people from all over Indonesia to come to Jakarta,” he remarked.
During the meeting with Juri, Edy claimed the Deputy Minister promised to convey the MBG issues to Prabowo. “The Deputy Minister is very supportive,” he said.
When approached via messaging application regarding the meeting with the pro-MBG protesters, Juri had not responded to enquiries at the time of writing.
The demonstration in the southern area of Monas took place on Monday afternoon, with protesters wearing white clothing. The crowd dispersed in the late afternoon.
This protest follows a wave of demonstrations criticising the MBG programme. For instance, on Thursday, 18 June, the Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API) held a protest at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout in Jakarta, presenting three demands: lowering the price of basic necessities, creating jobs, and halting the MBG project.
At that time, demonstrators highlighted the implementation of the MBG. A representative of the protesters, Afifah, argued that the programme does not address the fundamental issues faced by the community. “MBG is a political project, not a project to provide nutritious food,” she said.
Previously, a mass protest titled “Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia,” initiated by a student alliance, took place on Friday, 12 June 2026. One of their demands included the government halting the Free Nutritious Meal programme and the development of the Red and White Village Cooperative.