People's Alliance Rally in Gejayan Voices 10 Demands Against Government Policies

Hundreds of students and civil society members, under the banner of the ‘People’s Calling Alliance’, staged a demonstration at the Gejayan intersection in Caturtunggal, Depok, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Saturday afternoon. The crowd began gathering around 3:30 p.m. WIB as the rain subsided. The action was a response to various government policies perceived as not pro-people and an economic situation deemed increasingly burdensome for citizens. Protesters carried banners, including one reading: ‘If the Rupiah Weakens, We Strengthen Our Resistance to the Government’, and another stating: ‘The Workers and Farmers of this Country are Smarter than The Government’. Representatives from various community elements took turns delivering speeches, criticising the government and shouting their demands. ‘Welcome to the land of bed-wetters, officials are like thieves, the rupiah keeps collapsing,’ one orator shouted from atop a command vehicle. Professor of Media and Journalism at the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), Masduki, also participated, urging President Prabowo and the Vice President to review all problematic programmes. The demonstrators voiced ten demands, including halting controversial policies such as the Free Nutritious Meal Programme and the Red and White Village Cooperatives, and revoking revisions to the TNI Law, Police Law, Prosecutor’s Law, and Military Justice Law. They also demanded protection of civil liberties, an end to impunity for state apparatus, release of political prisoners, and cessation of criminalisation against citizens expressing criticism. Further demands included fulfilment of basic rights through free education and healthcare, improved economic welfare, protection of workers’ rights, reform of online transport regulations, and guarantees for land rights and decent living spaces. They also called for an end to forced evictions and a thorough investigation into the Mandala Krida Stadium corruption case in Yogyakarta. During the protest, access to the intersection was closed. The demonstration proceeded peacefully until around 5:30 p.m., when some participants urged dispersal. However, the majority chose to remain, and some set fire to tyres and a water barrier at the northern side of the intersection. Flames were still burning when traffic from the north was reopened. Shortly after, two explosions were heard, one suspected to be from a spray paint can that was also burned. By 6:28 p.m., traffic access at the Gejayan intersection was fully reopened. Some remaining participants asked passing motorists to honk their horns if they were fed up with the government, and the crowd responded enthusiastically to the chorus of honking vehicles.