Students Slam Central Java Governor for Ignoring Protests: 'He Never Sees or Hears Us'

Hundreds of students from the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) held a demonstration in front of the Central Java Governor’s Office and Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building in Semarang on Wednesday (17/6/2026) afternoon. This marked the third student protest in front of the Governor’s Office in nearly a week.

In addition to their demands, the students voiced disappointment and anger towards Governor Ahmad Luthfi, as he had not met with the demonstrators during the two previous protests. Based on Republika’s monitoring, no officials from the provincial government met with the students until the PMII protest concluded around 6:30 PM local time.

During the protest, several speakers directly criticised Luthfi. ‘The Governor never sees, never hears what we are voicing,’ an orator said from a command vehicle.

The PMII crowd was then directed to gather in front of the Governor’s Office gate. Addressing the hundreds of police officers guarding the courtyard of the Governor’s Office and DPRD building, the orator stated that he and his fellow students wished to convey their aspirations directly to provincial officials.

‘If this gate is not opened, the only thing we can do is force it open or enter the governor’s office yard to read out our demands,’ the orator declared.

The crowd briefly shook the fence of the Governor’s Office. However, no representatives from the provincial government or the DPRD came out to meet the PMII students.