Andi Saputra, Jakarta – Demonstrators supporting President Yudhoyono from the People's Alliance for SBY (Arus), who admitted to being paid between 25-30,000 rupiah to take part in the protest, disbanded after less than an hour.

"He, he... there was money (brother), 25,000 rupiah. Not bad, took a break from basking", said Jo, a street musician from Block M in South Jakarta who brought a small poster to the protest in front of the State Palace on Thursday.

Iyah and his son Tono from the Manggarai area of South Jakarta said they took part because they received 30,000 rupiah from the action coordinator. "Nice, brother. Getting money for just standing around and shouting. With my kid, it comes to 60,000 rupiah", said Iyah.

Others were more timid when asked if they had been paid. "What brother. We're genuine unpaid (protesters). We didn't even get any water", said Lely, a cleaning service worker from Manggarai. (asp/nrl)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]