UNJ Students to Stage Protest, Highlighting Rupiah and Fuel Prices
Students from the State University of Jakarta (UNJ), united under the UNJ Melawan Alliance, will stage a demonstration within the campus grounds on Friday, 12 June 2026. The action is a response to the weakening rupiah exchange rate and the increase in fuel prices.
The decision to take to the streets was made after all UNJ student organisations consolidated on Wednesday, 10 June 2026. The UNJ Melawan Alliance comprises both intra- and extra-campus organisations at UNJ. “We, united in the UNJ Melawan Alliance, will hold a demonstration within the UNJ campus,” said alliance member Andreas on Wednesday.
During the consolidation, students agreed on two sets of demands directed at the government and the UNJ rectorate. To the government, they submitted 10 demands, ranging from stabilising the rupiah exchange rate, lowering staple food and fuel prices, improving teacher welfare, to allocating 20 per cent of the state budget (APBN) for education.
The alliance also demands the cessation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme and the Koperasi Merah Putih, an evaluation of the state university with legal entity (PTN-BH) scheme, and the halting of National Strategic Projects deemed environmentally harmful.
Meanwhile, to the UNJ rectorate, the students are demanding the acceleration of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) building construction, which remains incomplete. They also seek an adjustment of the single tuition fee (UKT) in line with students’ economic conditions.
This action takes place amidst the strengthening discourse of a ‘Reformasi Jilid II’. However, Andreas stated that the UNJ Melawan Alliance has not yet decided to join this national movement. According to Andreas, the main focus currently is revitalising the student movement at UNJ, which has experienced a lull in recent months. “We want to focus on UNJ. We want to raise attention and enlarge the movement at UNJ, only then enter into a broader national movement,” said the member of the Didaktika Student Press Institute.
On a separate occasion, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said the government respects student aspirations, including demands related to stabilising the rupiah exchange rate. He asserted that Indonesia’s economic condition is influenced by many factors and cannot be resolved instantly. “It is, of course, influenced by many factors,” Prasetyo said at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Monday, 8 June 2026.