UI Student Rally Blocked Again at Same Location

A group of student protesters from the University of Indonesia’s Student Executive Board (BEM UI) was again blocked by security forces. They were stopped at the same location while heading towards the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

Republika observed that the students had earlier departed in a group from the university’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP UI) using public minibuses at around 12.15 p.m. local time.

At 1.50 p.m., the convoy of student minibuses was halted by officers on Jalan RM Margono Djojohadikoesoemo in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. Officers only allowed the operational vehicle and the students to proceed, but they were asked to walk or conduct a long march towards the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

Nevertheless, the protesters were stopped again at the same point as before, specifically during the protest on 12 June. They were blocked by police and military personnel near the UOB Thamrin-Sudirman building. The protesters remained in place until 3.40 p.m. local time. Facing a dead end, the students held their ground with chants and speeches.

The field coordinator of the protest, Hafidz Hernanda, said the BEM UI group brought a number of demands to the demonstration held to coincide with Independence Day. According to him, there were eight demands to be voiced by the protesters.

“For the demands, we have eight. The first is to stop the state’s colonisation of the people. Because we feel that unfortunately, after we were colonised by the colonialists, namely the Dutch, Japanese and so on, unfortunately we now feel that we are still being colonised by the government,” Hafidz said when met at the FISIP UI faculty on Tuesday (18/8/2026).

Furthermore, the second demand relates to economic issues, namely lowering the prices of staple goods and fuel. “The second is to lower the prices of staple goods and fuel,” he said.

Next, the protesters demanded an end to the centralisation of power, an end to TKD, or Regional Financial Transfers, and the granting of the broadest possible autonomy to the regions.

“The third is to stop the centralisation of power, stop TKD (Regional Financial Transfers) and grant the broadest possible autonomy to the regions. Because we feel, especially from BEM UI, we have a thesis that currently Prabowo wants to become Soeharto but in a broader sense, where he wants to take all the power at the centre. He is trying to take over local oligarchs, and we can also see this from the various policies he has made,” Hafidz said.