Wamenko Polkam: Police must shift the paradigm in handling protests

Jakarta — Deputy Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Wamenko Polkam) Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus said police must be able to shift the paradigm in handling protest actions. According to him, protests are part of how the people exercise their right to express and to be heard, a right that must be protected by the government. That, according to Lodewijk, should be used by the police to foster a protective stance toward the public during mass gatherings.

Police authorities must also shift their paradigm, so as not to view these events as protests and demonstrations, but as the conveyance of aspirations. This is important because if the police view it from that perspective, the handling process will be different,” Lodewijk said when he spoke as a keynote speaker at the event “Kick Off Evaluasi Nasional Capaian Demokrasi Indonesia Tahun 2026” in Semarang, Central Java, which was broadcast live on the Kemenko Polkam RI YouTube account and monitored in Jakarta, on Thursday.

Lodewijk continued that if the paradigm does not change, the authorities will be seen as handling mass actions in an inhumane manner. That could affect the Indonesia Democracy Index (IDI) in that region. A lower IDI, he said, would naturally influence assessments of the performance of regional heads.

Therefore, he hopes the paradigm in responding to protests must be changed so that the public can be served humanely and feel safe in exercising their democratic rights.

The same, he said, also applies to fellow citizens. He stated that people do not have the right to dissolve the activities or gatherings of others. Such actions should be undertaken by authorities, of course in ways that comply with the law.

So there will be no more people dispersing gatherings. There will be the authorities (to handle them),” he said.