Indonesia Cuts Lawmakers' Benefits After Deadly Protests Over Privilege and Spending

Benefit cuts follow a deadly week of unrest

President Prabowo Subianto has announced cuts to Indonesian lawmakers' benefits, including housing allowances and overseas work trips, after protests over political privileges and government spending left at least five people dead. The concessions, announced on Sunday, were intended to calm anger that had spread from Jakarta to other major cities.

At the centre of the dispute was a proposed monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah, about $3,000, for members of parliament. The payment was nearly ten times Jakarta's minimum wage, making it a powerful symbol of the distance between political leaders and people struggling with everyday expenses.

Political parties agreed to reduce parliamentary benefits, with certain perks to be scrapped starting Monday, September 1, 2025. Prabowo also announced a moratorium on overseas work trips and called for dialogue with students, community figures and other groups.

Student leaders said the concessions fell short of their demands. Their complaints reach beyond parliamentary pay to education cuts, social spending, corruption, inequality and the military's role in civilian government.

The demonstrations began peacefully on Monday in Jakarta. Anger intensified after Affan Kurniawan, a motorcycle rideshare driver aged 21, was fatally struck by a police armored vehicle during a crackdown at a protest site. By Friday, his death had helped trigger riots, attacks on politicians' homes and the burning of government buildings.

The unrest developed into what was described as Indonesia's most violent political crisis in decades. It also shook financial markets, with a sharp selloff in stocks and the currency, while forcing Prabowo to cancel a planned trip to China and focus on the crisis at home.

Why the housing allowance provoked such anger

The proposed allowance arrived during a period of economic hardship and government austerity. Austerity means reducing public spending to save money or redirect it to other priorities. For protesters, a generous new payment for lawmakers was difficult to accept while ministries, schools and public services faced cuts.

The figure of 50 million rupiah a month gave the dispute a concrete focus. Compared with Jakarta's minimum wage, the allowance alone amounted to nearly ten times the monthly minimum payment for a worker. It became a visible example of the privileges demonstrators believed political leaders were protecting for themselves.

Students and activists mobilized under the banner of Indonesia Gelap, meaning Dark Indonesia. Many wore black and carried posters criticizing the government. Some referenced Prabowo's pet cat as a symbol of elite privilege.

The complaints also reflected pressure from the rising cost of living, high youth unemployment and a lack of subsidized cooking gas. Those concerns connected parliamentary benefits to a wider argument over whose needs the government was putting first.

Herianto, a student leader in Jakarta, linked the protests to uncertainty about spending decisions and the government's free meals initiative. He said:

Indonesia is dark because many policies are unclear. The cuts are meant to cover the free meal program expenses, but they could impact education and anger students.

A driver's death and the spread of violence

Affan Kurniawan's death became a turning point. The killing of the rideshare driver by a police armored vehicle prompted nationwide outrage and demands for accountability. Police opened an investigation, and the government promised that the examination of police actions would be transparent.

Violence subsequently included looting, arson and attacks on the homes of political party members and state buildings. In Makassar, South Sulawesi, a mob beat an online motorcycle taxi driver to death after accusing him of being an intelligence agent. Three other people died in an arson attack on a local parliament building.

The death toll was at least five, with indications that it could be higher. Affan's death, the killing of the driver in Makassar and the three deaths at the parliament building illustrated the different forms of violence unfolding during the unrest.

Prabowo convened an emergency meeting with senior cabinet members and political party leaders at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. Military personnel guarded the palace and key government installations. Many ministers and officials arrived in vehicles with civilian license plates instead of their official ones as a precaution amid the tensions.

The crisis followed months of public opposition to spending decisions. The main stages were:

• February 20: Thousands of students gathered outside the Jakarta presidential palace in the largest demonstration described during the earlier wave of protests over budget cuts and the free meal program.
• Monday before September 1: The latest demonstrations began in Jakarta over parliamentary perks and spread to other major cities.
• Friday: Anger following Affan Kurniawan's death escalated into riots, attacks on politicians' homes and the burning of government buildings.
• Sunday: Prabowo announced agreement among political parties to cut lawmakers' benefits and canceled his planned China trip.
• Monday, September 1: Certain parliamentary perks were due to be scrapped.

What Prabowo promised and ordered

Prabowo said parliamentary leaders would revoke policies covering the size of lawmakers' allowances and halt overseas work trips. The announcement combined financial concessions with a call for public dialogue and instructions for a tougher security response.

At a press conference, he appeared alongside political leaders including Megawati Soekarnoputri, Zulkifli Hasan, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, Herman Khaeron and Ahmad Muzani. Their presence presented a united political front as the government sought to contain the crisis.

Prabowo urged the House of Representatives to invite community figures, students and other groups into open discussions. He said the administration respected freedom of expression as guaranteed by Indonesia's constitution and international conventions, and called on people to express their aspirations peacefully and constructively.

The president also assured the public that their voices would be heard and acted upon. At the same time, he ordered the military and police to take firm action against rioters and looters, warned against groups seeking to divide the nation and said some unrest bore signs of terrorism and treason.

The precise size of the allowance reductions, the full list of benefits being removed and a timetable for completing the investigation into Affan's death had not been given. Those details matter to protesters seeking both immediate changes in parliamentary spending and accountability for the police response.

Students and rights groups challenge the response

Muzammil Ihsan, head of the All Indonesian Students' Executives Body, the country's largest student umbrella group, said demonstrations would continue because reducing parliamentary benefits addressed only part of the problem. He said:

Cutting lawmakers' perks is not enough. The government must resolve deep-rooted problems. The anger on the streets is not without cause.

Amnesty International's Indonesia chapter criticized Prabowo's use of the terms treason and terrorism as "excessive." The organization warned that this language could be used to justify repression of legitimate dissent.

Tegar Afriansyah, chairman of the Indonesian Student League for Democracy, argued that political oligarchy and an unequal economic structure were at the root of the crisis. An oligarchy is a system in which power is concentrated among a small group. He described Prabowo's instructions to the police and military as "clearly repressive and intimidating."

Student leaders and civil society groups were calling for changes across several areas:

• A reassessment of budget cuts and the free meal program.
• Protection for education, health and social welfare funding.
• An end to state corruption and the military's dominant role in government.
• Greater transparency and accountability in public spending.
• Dialogue involving community figures, students and affected groups.

Many protesters remained skeptical that benefit cuts would bring meaningful change without broader reforms to reduce inequality and ensure that public money served the wider population.

The spending cuts behind the discontent

Prabowo, who took office in October 2024, ordered budget cuts totaling up to $44 billion, more than 15 percent of the state budget. The administration targeted administrative expenses, official ceremonies and business trips, saying the savings were needed to fund its priorities.

The best known of those priorities was a $4.3 billion free nutritious meals initiative for schoolchildren and pregnant mothers. The government presented the program as a way to support families, while students and educators questioned the effect of the accompanying reductions elsewhere.

Funding for primary and secondary education was reduced by $480 million. The higher education ministry's budget was cut by 25 percent. Students and educators feared higher university fees, canceled scholarships and worsening conditions for teachers.

The government insisted that its cuts would not harm education or teacher welfare. Widespread reductions across ministries nevertheless fueled concern about the quality of public services and whether schools, health services and other essential programs would have enough money.

Protesters argued that free meals, despite their intended benefits, were being pursued at the expense of education and healthcare. Their objection was about the choices involved in funding the program: money directed to one priority was being accompanied by cuts to services they also relied on.

In West Papua, high school students called for free education and better school facilities instead of free meals. They also condemned the use of soldiers to distribute food, connecting their concerns about school spending with opposition to a growing military presence in civilian life.

How Dark Indonesia brought students together

The Indonesia Gelap movement gave people in different cities a shared language for their frustration. The hashtag #IndonesiaGelap spread criticism of government policies and expressed anxiety about the prospects facing young Indonesians.

Another social media trend, #KaburAjaDulu, meaning "Just Escape First," reflected a growing desire among young people to seek opportunities abroad amid economic uncertainty. Together, the two phrases captured both public protest and a sense of personal frustration about work and the future.

Thousands of students joined demonstrations in Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Medan, Banda Aceh, Makassar and Samarinda. The earlier February 20 gathering outside the presidential palace demanded a reassessment of budget cuts and the free meal program, an end to corruption and a reduced military role in government.

Some demonstrations escalated into clashes with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds. In Surabaya, authorities reportedly arrested five students during protests outside the local council office.

The February demonstrations and the latest unrest shared complaints about public spending and political accountability. The parliamentary allowance dispute gave those grievances a new focus, while Affan's death brought police conduct to the centre of public anger.

Public trust and control of state wealth

Prabowo entered the crisis after winning a landslide election victory in 2024 and enjoying high approval ratings. Some polls put his popularity near 80 percent. The unrest posed the most serious challenge yet to his administration as anger over privilege collided with the effects of austerity.

His economic agenda also included Danantara, a new sovereign wealth fund that centralizes control over Indonesia's portfolio of state enterprises, valued at around $900 billion. A sovereign wealth fund is a vehicle through which a government manages public assets and investment.

Under the arrangement described, dividends from those enterprises would flow directly into Danantara rather than through the finance ministry. Dividends are payments that companies make to their owners from profits. Redirecting them would give the president unprecedented discretion over this stream of national wealth.

The government argued that the changes would improve efficiency and help fund social programs. Critics warned that concentrating so much control in one leader's hands could weaken transparency and accountability.

Danantara added another dimension to the spending debate. Protesters were challenging parliamentary allowances and service cuts while the administration was also changing how a vast portfolio of public assets would be managed. Both disputes involved demands for a clearer account of how state resources would benefit ordinary Indonesians.

Markets, China and restrictions on live video

Indonesian stocks and the currency suffered a steep selloff as violence unsettled investors. Continued unrest threatened economic stability and Prabowo's political standing, particularly if the middle class began to feel more of the effects of austerity.

Prabowo's cancellation of a high profile trip to China showed how urgently the government was treating the domestic situation. The disruption also brought attention to the crisis's potential effects on Indonesia's international relations and investment climate.

TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, temporarily suspended its live feature in Indonesia for several days. The company cited concerns about misinformation and user safety during the protests.

The suspension affected a digital environment in which social media had played a central role in organizing demonstrations and spreading frustration. Global rights groups and international media were also closely monitoring the unrest.

By September 1, the government had paired promises of cheaper parliamentary benefits, an investigation and dialogue with orders for firm security action. Student organizations continued to demand changes extending well beyond lawmakers' allowances, keeping education, public services, inequality and accountability at the centre of the dispute.

What to Know

• Prabowo announced cuts to lawmakers' benefits after protests over parliamentary privileges and public spending left at least five people dead.
• A proposed monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah, about $3,000 and nearly ten times Jakarta's minimum wage, helped trigger the demonstrations.
• The death of Affan Kurniawan, a rideshare driver aged 21 struck by a police armored vehicle, intensified public anger.
• Certain parliamentary perks were due to end on September 1, alongside a moratorium on overseas work trips.
• Budget cuts of up to $44 billion, including reductions in education funding, widened opposition to government spending priorities.
• Student groups demanded broader reforms, while rights advocates criticized the president's terrorism and treason language.
• The government promised an investigation and dialogue while ordering police and military action against rioters and looters.
• Financial markets fell, TikTok temporarily suspended live video and Prabowo canceled a planned visit to China.