When Indonesian workers took to the streets in major cities and towns on August 28, demanding that central and regional governments respond to the urgent needs of ordinary people for living wages, democratic rights and for the withdrawal of unfair taxes, police responded with arrests, assaults and the killing of a 21-year-old motorbike taxi rider who was run over by an armoured police vehicle.
These events became the trigger for simultaneous demonstrations across 200 cities and regional towns on August 29鈥30.
But while street demonstrations persist in the capital Jakarta, the dramatic scenes of mass demonstrations, police repression and burning of police offices and security posts in other parts of the country, have largely dissipated.
In the aftermath of the police brutality, mass arrests, detention without legal access and the doxing of local activists, many activist resources have been diverted to solidarity with those arrested and still detained 鈥 in particular those held in isolation without access to legal representation or family visits.
Physical and digital surveillance by state intelligence officers has intensified, prompting many local activists to refrain from political activity including attending meetings and digital communication forums. Wider state efforts to repress demonstrations and invoke a climate of fear have been swift and intense.
Police across the country are hunting some young activists who have been consistently organised in local, regional and national political actions over the past few years. These activists are accused of being the instigators of riots that took place in late August, despite news outlets such as Tempo magazine reporting on substantial evidence that plainclothes military personnel apprehended by police officers were among the actors responsible for instigating acts of rioting and burning of government buildings.
Legal aid institute services across the country remain largely overwhelmed in their attempts to provide legal support and advocacy to those detained in police headquarters in the past two weeks, activists arrested in the aftermath of the demonstrations and those currently being pursued by police, military and intelligence officers.
Surveillance and compliance
As previously reported, schools across the country were closed from September 1-3 for primary and middle school students, while high school students were obliged to go to school and attend assemblies where police and military officers 鈥渕entored鈥 them on democratic and responsible expression of opinions.
At the same time, the military have been deployed on the streets to secure government buildings in the capital and to rural villages and urban kampungs (low-income settlements) to ensure citizens enact their civil rights in line with laws that oblige them to defend the country.
Since reformasi 鈥 the post-Suharto period that began in 1998 鈥 members of the Indonesian military (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI) have retained an organised presence in every rural village and kampung in the country through being assigned as 鈥淰illage Development鈥 Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), known as Babinsa.
Since the beginning of September these NCOs have begun organising socialisation sessions on the law on citizens鈥 rights and obligation to defend the country against threats (hukumbelanegara).
Revisions to the national TNI law in March affirmed that the military can be mobilised to counter domestic threats, including domestic treason and terrorism, with President Prabowo Subianto stating on August 31 that the organisers of the riots on August 29鈥30 could be tried for treason or terrorism.
Urban and rural kampungs have been directed to establish security posts and to initiate civilian defence units to guard against threats to domestic security. These initiatives rely on citizen compliance however, and indicators at local level are that everyday citizens are avoiding socialisation meetings and recruitment efforts, with the excuse of pressing work and family commitments.
Prabowo appoints his allies
At the same time, there is growing evidence that the state security apparatus is not acting as a united bloc. There are tensions between police and military at local and national levels, as they vie for greater influence and power in the current conditions of economic crisis and growing factionalism amongst national political elites.
Prabowo instigated a cabinet reshuffle in the 10 days following the national protests, removing well-known supporters of former President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and replacing them with members of his own party, Gerindra.
Evidence is also emerging that the military is not a united force, nor is Prabowo truly in charge of it. Prabowo is a career military officer, having spent his career in elite units, receiving specialist training overseas and applying this in special military operations in Timor-Leste and other parts of Indonesia. Having never been deployed as an officer in a regional military post, Prabowo lacks direct relations with many operational military commands.
In the recent cabinet reshuffle, retired General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin 鈥 understood to be a Prabowo loyalist 鈥 was appointed as Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, which many view as signalling Prabowo鈥檚 growing reliance on the military and the appointment of close allies to key national security posts.
What next?
How the political situation will unfold in the coming weeks and months remains uncertain, as elite factionalism evolves and Prabowo attempts to secure a firmer grip on power.
For ordinary people, generalised economic hardship and ongoing land and environmental conflicts in hundreds of sites across the country 鈥 which have given rise to periodic mass outpourings of protest and anger since 2019 鈥 will continue to produce future mass mobilisations and protests on a national scale.
The challenge for activists at local, regional and national levels is how to defend those currently detained and under threat, and build the networks and alliances that will strengthen ordinary people鈥檚 political capacity for the struggles that continue to unfold. These are essential to preparing for future political actions, including meetings, political education, local demonstrations and national mobilisations.
[Rebecca Meckelburg is a research fellow at the Institute for International Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada and the Indo-Pacific research centre at Murdoch University.]