Thousands of people have gathered this Thursday in the south of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, to demonstrate in front of the Parliament and demand deeper political and social changes that allow to curb cases of corruption, one of the issues that most concerns the citizens.
The mobilization, which began around 2:00 PM (local time), is led by members of the Gerakan Rakyat Menggugat (GERAM) alliance, formed by student collectives and civil society organizations. The participants have displayed banners that read "prevent the corrupt from ruining the country."
The organizers have presented a package of ten demands and have urged President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to take responsibility for the approval of measures that, in their opinion, "expand the role of the military, weaken the economy, and exacerbate inequality."
Among their demands is also the request to the Executive to "analyze" and put an end to the free food program, which has been questioned internationally due to the successive food poisonings that have affected thousands of minors and due to cuts in other public items intended to fund it.
"We are not here to act as anarchists and we are not violent. We are here to raise our voice and show what our aspirations are," stated Haerul Alam, a representative of GERAM, who defended the peaceful nature of the protest, despite some attendees climbing the security fence of the parliamentary compound, according to the CNA network.
In parallel, the United Community Alliance of Pati (AMPB) has promoted another gathering to demand the approval of the bill on asset confiscation and the introduction of the death penalty for those convicted of corruption.
The so-called Asset Confiscation Law aims to empower the State to trace, immobilize, seize, and confiscate assets linked to economic crimes and cases of corruption without requiring a firm criminal sentence beforehand. The text is still under discussion in the House of Representatives, which has set the goal of advancing it before December.