Indonesia currently has about 7.3 million jobless people. Meanwhile, the country is also seeing a shrinking middle-class population.
“But the people see elites, members of parliament like Eko Patrio whose house is worth 150 billion rupiah …and then they get a lot of protection and perks, while people at the bottom find it very difficult to live,” said Made, referring to lawmaker Eko Patrio whose house was among those looted on Saturday.
Former celebrity-turned-politician Eko has been suspended by the National Mandate Party (PAN) from being a parliamentarian effective on Sep 1. PAN also suspended Uya Kuya, another celebrity-turned-politician, after both were deemed to have made insensitive comments that triggered the widespread public outrage.
Nicky from CSIS said there are three main issues Indonesia is currently facing: Economic, political as well as law and order enforcement.
Similar to Made, he noted how many people in Indonesia are still struggling to survive on a daily basis and that many are unemployed, adding that there is a disconnection between what the people want and what policies lawmakers decide.
“We know for certain that meaningful public participation is only a jargon,” said Nicky.
“Every policy-making process simply doesn’t involve the public, and the public’s outcry in the past (few) days shows that there is a breakdown in political or public communication from the government, from the House of Representatives to the public.”
For now, Nicky acknowledged that Sunday’s announcement is effective to cool down the situation temporarily but reiterated that deep-rooted issues need to be solved for Indonesia to move forward.
“And if you want to resolve public anger, it means the fundamental problems must be resolved, and this starts from eradicating poverty and unemployment.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-prabowo-subianto-protests-parliament-police-5325061
