Observer Says Paid Demonstrations Can Damage Democracy

Political communication observer at Esa Unggul University, M. Jaminuddin Ritonga, believes that paid demonstrations can damage democracy because they are not intended to convey or fight for genuine aspirations, but rather to serve the interests of the masterminds behind the payments.

“The mastermind merely uses people as tools to achieve their own desires. Paid demonstrators fight and often insult certain individuals or institutions to fulfil the motives of the mastermind,” Jamiluddin stated in Jakarta on Thursday.

He called upon Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to take firm action against paid demonstrators, asserting that protests should purely represent the people’s aspirations. Furthermore, he argued that the masterminds themselves should be prosecuted, as they are actively undermining democracy.

While demonstrations aim to shape public opinion regarding specific individuals or institutions, there are concerns that public opinion formed through paid protests may be fraudulent.

“False public opinion will undoubtedly influence the policies adopted by the government. Consequently, government policies will not address the demonstrators’ actual issues, but will instead serve the aspirations of the mastermind,” he said.

According to him, public opinion should serve as the primary guide for the government when formulating policies. Therefore, within a democratic system, the government needs to implement a bottom-up approach, where policies are developed based on genuine aspirations emerging from society.

“Aspirations must arise naturally from the needs of the people, not be engineered by certain parties through paid demonstrators. Thus, President Prabowo should not only identify the masterminds paying the demonstrators but also take action against them,” he added.

This issue surfaced after the Chairman of the Student Executive Board (BEM) of the Faculty of Law at UBK, Muhammad Abdimaludin, admitted to receiving Rp20 million following a demonstration and a meeting with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming on Monday (15/6). The funds are strongly suspected to be compensation for moving the location of the student protest.

Abdimaludin disclosed this during an internal student clarification forum on Monday (22/6) night. In that forum, he detailed that the Rp20 million was divided among seven people; he received Rp6 million, while the remainder was distributed to several BEM officials and other parties.

The Alumni Association of Universitas Bung Karno (IKA UBK) has strongly condemned the actions of the student executive board members involved, who are alleged to have accepted money from certain parties to relocate the protest from the Presidential Palace to the DPR RI Building.