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View all search resultsElite maneuvers put student movements at risk
Concerns are growing that political elites are trying to delegitimize student protests against President Prabowo Subianto's policies, with recent maneuvering threatening to undermine their credibility and shift focus away from the grievances that drove the demonstrations.
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Students take part in a protest against a rise in non-subsidised fuel prices, inefficient government spending, free meals program and military involvement in civilian affairs, on June 22 in Surabaya. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
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oncerns are growing that political elites may be seeking to delegitimize student movements amid waves of street protests against President Prabowo Subianto’s handling of rising living costs and economic hardship, with recent maneuvering threatening to undermine their credibility and shift focus away from the grievances that drove the demonstrations.
For more than a week, students have taken to the streets in Jakarta and other cities to protest what they describe as President Prabowo Subianto’s “misplaced” spending priorities, particularly his costly free nutritious meal program, at a time when many Indonesians are struggling with worsening economic conditions driven by rising living costs, higher fuel prices and a weakening rupiah.
However, political elites have increasingly reframed the discourse around the protests, shifting attention from the student demands to partisan disputes and political rivalries, with analysts warning that this could weaken student movements and undermine their mission in pushing for policy changes.
Rather than addressing the substance of the protests, pro-government National Awakening Party (PKB), Golkar Party and the Democratic Party have focused much of their attention on criticizing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for refusing to call itself the opposition despite appearing to support the student-led movement.
The spat broke out after an allegation made at a press conference last week by an obscure student alliance calling itself BEM Bersatu, which claimed that recent student protests had been infiltrated by political interests, including PDI-P, after suggesting that a former student union chair involved in the demonstrations had ties to the party.
Read also: Pro-government parties hit out at PDI-P over student protests
PDI-P itself has denied the accusations, while several university student bodies named by BEM Bersatu as being part of its alliance have rejected any link to the grouping. Unlike these student unions, BEM Bersatu supports the free meals program.
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