Women's Alliance Breaks Through Police Blockade to Protest at Jakarta's HI Roundabout

A group of female demonstrators from the Women’s Alliance of Indonesia (API) successfully broke through a police cordon to stage a protest at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) roundabout. API representative Afifah said they had a verbal altercation and clashed with police after their planned route was blocked.

“We told the police we would march from Sudirman to the HI roundabout, then to Monas, the Horse Statue, and the State Palace,” Afifah said when met near Jalan Sudirman on Thursday, 18 June 2026.

Initially, they had set a long march route starting from Jalan Jenderal Sudirman heading to the State Palace in Central Jakarta. However, about one kilometre from the starting point, they were diverted to Jalan Kota Bumi and then into small alleys and residential areas.

After passing through the narrow streets, they arrived at a main road at the Grand Indonesia intersection. Police then blocked the demonstrators again. At that point, the female protesters argued and clashed with officers. They refused to be diverted again and insisted on reaching the HI roundabout.

“We had already come out of the village roads, then we were asked to turn left, which would take us away from the HI roundabout. We refused. So we forced our way to the right and finally reached HI,” Afifah said.

Afifah and the other female demonstrators, comprising members of the women’s organisation Perempuan Mahardhika, domestic workers, and housewives, staged the action demanding that the free nutritious meal (MBG) project be halted. They also demanded that staple food prices be lowered. Another demand was for the government to immediately provide jobs as promised during the election campaign.

According to Afifah, the MBG project has merely been a political project, not one genuinely aimed at providing nutrition for children. “We know that at the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the BGN elites, from the deputy to the chairperson, are not nutritionists. They come from other political circles,” she said.

Because of this, the public, especially mothers, do not trust their children’s nutritional affairs to people who lack a background in nutritional science. “MBG only causes students to suffer food poisoning,” Afifah said.