Crowd Near Hotel Indonesia Disperses, Long March Towards Semanggi

A number of university students staging a protest and held up in the Tosari area, not far from the Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout on Jalan Sudirman, Central Jakarta, have dispersed. Quoting from detik.com, students from three universities dispersed by walking south towards the Semanggi area. Around 7:20 PM WIB, students were seen walking on foot towards Semanggi. They also appeared to be heading towards Sudirman Station. While conducting a long march, the students were heard singing ‘Garuda Pancasila’ as they dispersed. Three universities were seen dispersing: UIN Jakarta, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta (PNJ), and Universitas Pembangunan Nasional (UPN) Jakarta. At the Sudirman statue location, a number of students were also seen sitting on the roadside. In the area also known as Dukuh Atas, police installed barriers to divert traffic flow from the HI Roundabout to Jalan Pasar Baru Timur III. Although some had already dispersed, a number of students were still seen holding out near the Tosari bus stop. The protesters had previously intended to hold a demonstration in the HI Roundabout area, Central Jakarta. However, their action was blocked by a joint force of police and military personnel. As a result, the crowd was held at the Tosari point. The protesters’ demands are as follows: 1. Stop the waste of the State Budget (APBN). 2. Lower the prices of staple goods and fuel (BBM). 3. Stop the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme and the construction of Merah Putih Village Cooperatives. 4. End militarism in the civilian sphere. 5. Prabowo must stop evading and admit the government’s mistakes. Besides Jakarta, similar actions also occurred in several other Indonesian cities, such as in Bandung on Thursday (11/6) and in Solo today.