Taking Angkot and Buses, UI Students March to Bundaran HI Protest

Masses from the University of Indonesia’s Student Executive Board (BEM UI) held a demonstration at the Bundaran HI in Jakarta today. They travelled to the protest site using public minibuses (angkot) and buses. Monitoring at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) field in Depok on Friday (12/6/2026) at 11.00 WIB showed students gathering, dressed in black and wearing their university alma mater jackets or yellow jackets. They carried banners reading ‘Menuju Indonesia Bangkrut’ (Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia) and ‘Sweet 18 Rupiahku’. The crowd held speeches before departing. An orator declared, ‘Today there are no sweet words for the government. Today we show that we are fed up, we will not stay silent, we are not alone.’ BEM UI Chairman Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan explained the choice of all-black clothing as a symbol of a situation heading towards darkness. ‘We realise that hope has begun to fade and it is leading to darkness. But we still wear our alma mater jackets so we can recognise each other,’ Yata said. He noted the mass consisted of students from BEM PNJ, BEM Pancasila, BEM NF, IPB, UIN and others. He argued that economic growth is only visible on paper but not felt by the people. ‘Job opportunities are shrinking, prices have risen across the board, and taxes are still imposed on the lower-middle class, including the poor,’ he stated. He also highlighted frequent power outages and the increasing difficulty of obtaining subsidised fuel in several regions, urging the government to make improvements. ‘If conditions do not improve, then according to our hashtag, we are heading towards a bankrupt Indonesia — bankrupt economically, bankrupt democratically, and bankrupt in national morality,’ he concluded.