Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Recruited protesters are paid to shout, crowd public minibuses and carry banners defaming figures related to the Bank Century saga, all for a tidy sum of Rp 25,000 (US$2.6) a day.
Street rallies have become a source of extra income for some city residents, especially with the string of national controversies of late.
"They aren't from our neighborhood," said Suminar, pointing to protestors gathering at the nearby Proclamation Monument. The landmark is one of the meeting points for daily protests.
"People in my neighborhood mostly have jobs, I don't think they have time to join the protests during working hours," she added.
On Tuesday, 500 protesters, including those who met at the Proclamation Monument, held a rally in front of the Vice Presidential Palace. Four protesters stood onboard a truck shouting from megaphones for state leaders to be held responsible for the Rp 6.7 trillion Bank Century bailout.
They were followed by hundreds of protesters from several groups including the Anti Corruption Action Youth Committee (Kapak), the Depok Youth Communication Forum (FKMD), the Solidarity Action for Anti Corruption Community (Sorak) and the Youth Activator Network (Jamper).
"I participated in this event because one of my friends asked me to. I am being paid Rp 25,000, enough to buy cigarettes for today," said Hendri, 23, a protester from Johar Baru, Central Jakarta.
Biyan, 19, from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, said he did not even care what the protesters were fighting for. "I'm just here as an extra. I will be paid Rp 20,000 in exchange through," he said.
Unfortunately other protesters objected when asked similar questions. Ani, 38, from North Jakarta refused to reveal whether she was also a paid protester, let alone who had organized the buses and banners for the protest.
Laode Kamaludin, the coordinator of the Kapak, said that he and his senior fellows at the Kapak had collected their own money to finance the march.
He denied that he paid the protesters to join the march. "The protesters all join voluntarily. That they are paid is just a rumor spread by people to discredit our movement."