Thousands of Students Rally at DPR, Highlighting State Budget and Free Nutritious Meals Programme

Thousands of people from youth organisations and students from several campuses in Jakarta staged a protest in front of the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (19/6). Based on observations at the scene, the action began at 3.30 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. The demonstrators came from the Central Board of the Islamic Students Association (PB HMI), students from Mercubuana University, and Trisakti University. However, the action was not held jointly. They each arrived with their own demands, although several points in those demands were the same. These ranged from criticism of the free nutritious meals programme (MBG), wasteful state budget (APBN) spending, to civilian reform. “Various policies deemed not to favour the public must be seriously evaluated for the sake of achieving social justice and national welfare,” according to a release from the HMI action. Meanwhile, Trisakti students who arrived later brought three main demands, including one highlighting the MBG issue. The three demands were: restore the economy and politics; second, eradicate official incompetence; third, restore civilian supremacy. They urged the government to immediately lower fuel prices and stop wasteful APBN spending. The students also expressed their rejection of the newly passed National Police Law.