Jakarta – Protesters gathered outside Jakarta's Parliament complex for the second day on Aug 23, keeping up the pressure on lawmakers who have promised to scrap a controversial Bill to block candidates not backed by President Joko Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto from participating in regional elections come November.
Led by university students, the peaceful protests also took place elsewhere in the capital and other major cities in Indonesia, including Bandung, Surabaya and Semarang, on Aug 23.
The protests continued despite rising heat from the late morning, and followed clashes on the evening of Aug 22 in front of the Parliament complex involving protesters who burned tyres and pelted stones, and anti-riot police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse them. The authorities said more than 300 people have been detained so far.
The protests on the streets were reflected online, with deep anger and accusations on social media of political manoeuvring by Mr Widodo and his successor, Mr Prabowo, that is widely seen as dragging Indonesia's young democracy back onto an authoritarian path.
Among those massed in front of the Parliament complex on Aug 23 was Mr Ruben Bentiyan, 24, a student at Djuanda University in Bogor – a city in West Java – who had turned up with several of his schoolmates after taking the train in a roughly 90-minute journey.
He said: "This is our way of showing our anger as citizens of Indonesia, as students, and for the future of our country.
"If we remain silent, then the world will just see another dictatorship come to pass. We cannot remain silent and just let it happen."
The students viewed with increasing alarm as Mr Widodo and Mr Prabowo formed a super coalition and then proceeded to sideline candidates they do not support from contesting in the upcoming regional polls. Indonesia is gearing up for regional elections on Nov 27 to fill the posts for 37 provincial governors, 415 regents and 93 mayors across the archipelago.
Leading the protests in the last two days were college students – often at the vanguard of protests defending Indonesia's democracy, from the days when strongman Suharto was toppled in 1998.
Another student from Djuanda University, who wanted to be known only as Mr Daniel, 23, said that protesting was meant to show lawmakers that the people would not accept the decisions the government made unilaterally.
"The lawmakers are elected by the people, but it is apparent that they are not listening to the people they claim to represent," he said, adding that he has participated in student protests in 2019 and 2022, and will continue to do so in future.
On Aug 20, the Constitutional Court lowered the threshold for political parties or coalitions of parties to be able to nominate candidates for local heads in the November polls – from having to win 25 per cent of the popular vote to between 6.5 per cent and 10 per cent, depending on the region's number of registered voters.
The ruling was hailed by activists as a win for democracy as it offers a better chance for political parties and candidates opposing the dominant super coalition in key regions.
But the following day, at the national Parliament, the political parties that are members of the super coalition – called the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) – rushed to come up with a draft Bill putting the threshold back to 25 per cent.
KIM had also aimed to get the Bill passed into law on the morning of Aug 22, which led to the escalating protests outside Parliament in Jakarta as well as in other cities.
On the evening of Aug 22, Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad announced that Parliament would not be passing into law the election Bill that would otherwise re-install stricter rules on nominating candidates.
"We are not going ahead... The candidate registration for regional elections will be based on the Constitutional Court's ruling," Mr Dasco said. He added, however, that the regional election law may be revisited by the incoming Parliament.
A twist to the tale is that Mr Prabowo had endeared himself to younger voters during his election campaign, tapping social media influencers and comedians.
"He ran on the promise that he will continue Jokowi's (Mr Widodo's) legacy, and I am worried that it will just be a repeat of the past 10 years," said 20-year-old Willy Widinia, who attended the protest with her friends.
The student at Djuanda University added: "We students need to step up and be more involved in how our country is run. I chose to protest because it is not just a matter that concerns society, but the very soul of our country."
Parliament's scrapped plans to reverse the Constitutional Court's ruling may have calmed public discontent somewhat for now, but there is lingering suspicion that lawmakers could still try to bulldoze through the legislation.
Parliament has up until early next week to pass the Bill before registration for the regional polls takes place from Aug 27 to Aug 29.