UI Abruptly Bans 'Republic Conference' at Salemba Campus, Organisers Cite External Pressure
The University of Indonesia (UI) abruptly banned the ‘Konferensi Republik: Jalan Menata Kembali Republik’ (Republic Conference: A Path to Reorganise the Republic) event at its Salemba campus in Central Jakarta on Sunday, 28 June 2026. Conference committee member Jaleswari Pramodhawardani stated that UI cited non-compliance with administrative procedures as the reason for the prohibition.
“In fact, we had followed the procedures,” she said when met at the UI Salemba campus. She explained that the committee had submitted a permit application well in advance. On Wednesday, 24 June, UI issued a letter of assignment granting use of the campus facilities. “We interpreted that as acceptance,” she added.
Preparations had been underway since the day before the event, with no change in stance from the university until Saturday afternoon. The room had already been fitted with a ‘Konferensi Republik’ backdrop and some equipment had been arranged. However, at 9 p.m. Western Indonesian Time, security officers halted the ongoing loading process. By midnight, the committee received notification of the permit rejection from UI. Jaleswari suspects that external parties pressured the university to cancel the event.
She argued that the ban violates the constitutional right to express opinions and sees it as part of a recurring pattern of curtailing freedom of expression. “Concerts are cancelled, discussions are cancelled, journalists are not free to express themselves. So this is part of a repeating pattern,” she said. She stressed that the conference was intended as a space for dialogue on national issues, not a coup attempt. “We are not planning a coup, we are not an armed force, we are not going to besiege the palace,” she said. She suggested the state appears more fearful of ideas than of violence.
Despite understanding UI’s difficult position, Jaleswari said the committee decided to proceed with the conference via Zoom at 1 p.m. UI’s Director of Public Relations, Media, Government, and International Affairs, Erwin Agustian Panigoro, had not yet responded to requests for confirmation.
The national consolidation meeting of the Republic Conference was scheduled to discuss three main agendas at the UI Salemba campus. Committee Secretary General Yanuar Nugroho outlined that the first agenda would cover the movement’s foundational values, objectives, and direction. The second would establish the organisational form, network, and working methods. The third would address leadership, noting that civil coordination requires individuals willing to work both publicly and behind the scenes to ensure communication and coordination without monopolisation.
Yanuar explained that participants in the Republic Conference are autonomous civil society organisations or nodes, each with their own roles but sharing common concerns. “So the Republic Conference does not dissolve them, but rather connects these various organisations or nodes so they can meet, coordinate, support each other, strengthen each other’s movements, and share agendas,” he said. This national consolidation was a follow-up to the first Republic Conference held in Yogyakarta on 30 May 2026, which was attended by hundreds of civil society organisations, activists, and academics. That conference at Gadjah Mada University identified several key findings, including concerns about concurrent difficulties across various aspects of national life and the dysfunction of democratic institutions that operate formally but fail in representation and oversight.