Tika Ayu, Jakarta – President of Labor Party Said Iqbal said there will be roughly up to 50,000 demonstrators who will take to the streets for the commemoration of International Labor Day (May Day), in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) headquarters, the Constitutional Court and the State Palace.

"The Jabodetabek area is concentrated in Jakarta, at the Palace, the Constitutional Court building, and the Indonesian Parliament because there was a judicial review of the parliamentary threshold," said Iqbal during a press conference, Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

Iqbal claims that 500,000 people would have attended the commemoration of May Day throughout Indonesia but due to the extended Eid holidays, he estimates that the number will decrease to around 200,000 mass demonstrations.728-90-copy-1-Majalah

Demands during May Day

The labor unions will bring a number of demands, including urging the government to revoke the Job Creation Law No. 6/2023. The second is to urge for the revocation of the parliamentary threshold provision for national legal votes.

"To be fair, it will be around 24 seats or 4 percent of the national vote," he said.

Third, rejecting the health bill. "We, together with IDI (Indonesian Doctors' Association) and other health workers, reject and support the struggle of the Indonesian Doctors Association, nurses, midwives, and other health workers in the health sector," said Iqbal.

As for the fourth demand, the Labor Party asked for the immediate ratification of the Domestic Worker Protection Bill (PPRT). "That is what we convey regarding the preparations for May Day," said Said Iqbal.

On the same day, Iqbal asserts that the mass of workers' demonstrations will shift to Istora Senayan – home to the parliamentary headquarters – and declare a "coalition of the common people." This coalition is intended to fight the grand coalition or the National Coalition, which is a coalition of major political parties, which according to him poses a threat to democracy.

"The Labor Party formed a coalition of the common people because the grand coalition endangers Indonesian democracy," Said Iqbal asserted in a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 19.

The "coalition of common people" will be joined by civilian groups such as general workers and laborers, academics, and college students.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1717242/labor-party-plans-mass-demonstration-ahead-of-may-da