Questioned on Not Meeting Protesting Students, Central Java Governor Retorts: 'Are You Demonstrating or Interviewing?'

Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi failed to provide an adequate response when asked by journalists why he had not met with student groups who have staged three demonstrations in front of the Central Java Governor’s Office in Semarang over the past week. In addition to voicing a number of demands, the students have requested a meeting with the governor.

When questioned by reporters on Thursday (18/6/2026) after attending the launch of the 2026 Economic Census at Pancasila Field, Simpang Lima, Semarang, Luthfi instead posed a question in return. ‘Are you demonstrating or are you interviewing?’ Luthfi said to the journalist who asked whether he would meet the students if they held another protest in front of his office.

The journalist then repeated the same question, but Luthfi’s response remained unchanged. ‘Are you demonstrating or interviewing? You are interviewing. So ask those who are demonstrating, don’t ask me,’ he said.

Another journalist pressed the point that the student group wanted to be met by the governor. ‘Says who? We’ll meet them,’ Luthfi replied.

On Wednesday (17/6/2026), hundreds of students affiliated with the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) held a demonstration in front of the Governor’s Office and the Central Java Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD). They voiced several demands, including rejecting the militarisation of civilian spaces and calling for a total evaluation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) and KDMP programmes.

During the protest, several speakers directly criticised Luthfi. ‘The governor has never seen, never heard what we are voicing,’ a speaker said from a command vehicle.

The Chair of the Semarang City Women’s PMII Corps, Fardani Hayatul Ulum, deeply regretted that neither the governor nor the deputy governor of Central Java had met them. ‘To date, there has been no response whatsoever, from the governor, the deputy governor, nor the mayor and deputy mayor. I am very disappointed,’ she said when interviewed by journalists on the sidelines of the protest.

Fardani revealed that she and her colleagues had arrived at the demonstration carrying the results of studies and research on the impact of several government policies on grassroots communities. The research was the product of work by 15 PMII commissariats spread across 15 campuses in Semarang over a two-week period.

According to Fardani, she and her colleagues wanted to present the research findings directly to officials of the Central Java Provincial Government and DPRD. ‘We want to enter the Central Java Governor’s Office, not in the context of rioting, but because we want to engage in direct dialogue. We want to convey the studies we have prepared,’ she said.