Indonesia Protests Test Prabowo After Delivery Driver's Death and Anger Over Lawmaker Perks

A fatal encounter turns economic anger into a national crisis

Affan Kurniawan, a delivery driver aged 21, was completing a food order near Indonesia's national parliament on August 28, 2025, when a police armoured vehicle struck him and rolled over his body. His death transformed protests over lawmakers' benefits and the cost of living into a nationwide challenge for President Prabowo Subianto.

By September 3, demonstrations had spread to at least 32 of Indonesia's 38 provinces. Early official counts put the death toll at eight, while police oversight officials later reported ten deaths, more than 1,680 arrests and at least 20 people missing. Hundreds were injured, and rights groups and local officials had recorded dozens missing as unrest spread.

The original focus of the demonstrations was a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah for each of the House of Representatives' 580 members, nearly ten times Jakarta's minimum wage. Lawmakers' total monthly compensation, including other benefits, was put at more than 100 million rupiah.

Those payments angered people facing rising food, rent and transport costs, higher taxes, stagnant wages and a slowing job market. Cuts to education, health and public works budgets made the contrast sharper: citizens were being asked to tighten their belts while elected officials received generous benefits.

Prabowo responded with an apology to Kurniawan's family, an investigation and concessions on parliamentary perks. He also ordered police and the military to act firmly against arson, looting and attacks on public facilities. His immediate challenge was to restore order while answering demands for justice and avoiding further deaths.

What happened to Affan Kurniawan?

Kurniawan worked gigs for Gojek and Grab. He was not a protest organizer. A day after the protests began, he was caught between police and demonstrators outside the House of Representatives while trying to earn a living.

Witness accounts and video showed a vehicle belonging to the National Police Mobile Brigade, known as Brimob, accelerating through a crowd, striking him and then running over his body instead of stopping. Jakarta's police chief later confirmed that a Brimob vehicle had killed him.

Kurniawan's death gave the demonstrations a powerful personal focus. A worker delivering food had become a victim of the confrontation outside parliament. His killing brought longstanding complaints about harsh policing, arbitrary arrests and a lack of accountability into the centre of the protests.

Riders, activists and officials attended his funeral. Candlelight vigils spread, students and gig workers organized new marches, and hashtags including ResetIndonesia carried public anger across social media.

Prabowo apologized to the family, ordered an investigation and promised financial support. Jakarta police identified seven Brimob personnel, including the driver and the unit commander, as subjects of internal and criminal investigations.

Why the allowance struck such a nerve

Indonesia's parliament had already faced criticism over generous benefits and low public trust. The housing allowance turned that dissatisfaction into a figure people could compare directly with their own earnings: 50 million rupiah every month, before other compensation.

University students, labour groups and riders delivering meals or parcels described leaders as insulated from the financial pressures affecting ordinary households. Rising prices and weak employment prospects made the benefits especially difficult to accept after cuts to public spending.

Dr Eve Warburton, director of the Indonesia Institute at the Australian National University, linked the dispute over pay and allowances to growing economic insecurity. In her assessment, the perception of a wealthy political class protected from downturns while asking citizens to accept cuts helped push people onto the streets.

Vedi Hadiz of the University of Melbourne said political elites appeared enclosed in a life of comfort, offending a widespread sense of fairness. Public anger deepened when several lawmakers dismissed criticism as uninformed or mocked protesters online.

The student group Gejayan Memanggil widened the argument beyond parliamentary pay. It highlighted policies it described as favouring conglomerates and the military, alongside the growing presence of military officers in civilian posts. The movement was becoming a broader challenge over who benefits from government decisions.

How the unrest spread across Indonesia

Jakarta's protests were followed by demonstrations and clashes across Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Borneo and parts of Papua. Cities affected included Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Cirebon, Semarang, Makassar, Gorontalo, Palembang and Banjarmasin.

Bali and Lombok, often insulated from unrest elsewhere in the country, also experienced vandalism and arrests. The spread to at least 32 provinces out of 38 meant that the crisis extended far beyond the capital and its national institutions.

In Makassar, a regional legislature building was set ablaze, trapping people inside and killing at least three. A student died during clashes with riot police in Yogyakarta. In Solo, a pedicab driver aged 60 died after exposure to tear gas.

Police stations and local government offices were attacked in several cities. In Surabaya, protesters stormed parts of the police headquarters compound and destroyed property. Mobs also ransacked regional parliament offices and some politicians' homes.

Jakarta saw luxury goods looted from some legislators' homes after groups circulated personal details online. Publishing such information, often called doxxing, exposed the officials' private addresses to large audiences as anger moved from public institutions to individual residences.

The main developments unfolded in this sequence:

• Protests began outside the national parliament over lawmakers' benefits and daily economic pressures.
• On August 28, 2025, a Brimob armoured vehicle killed Kurniawan near the legislature.
• His funeral, candlelight vigils and online campaigns were followed by new marches involving students and delivery riders.
• Within days, demonstrations had reached at least 32 provinces, with fatal clashes, fires, attacks on public buildings and looting.
• By September 3, the government had announced concessions on parliamentary benefits while investigations and security operations continued.

The human and economic toll

Authorities initially recorded eight deaths and more than 1,200 arrests. Later figures from police oversight officials put the totals at ten deaths and more than 1,680 arrests nationwide. The rising counts reflected the widening crisis over several days.

Hundreds of people were injured. Police oversight officials recorded at least 20 missing people, while rights groups and local officials logged dozens. For families searching for relatives, accounting for those detained or missing remained an urgent concern.

City and provincial leaders also reported extensive property damage. Estimated losses approached 900 billion rupiah in the hardest hit regions, including East Java and South Sulawesi. Burned legislature buildings, damaged police facilities and attacks on government offices added a substantial financial cost to the human losses.

Financial markets reacted as well. Jakarta's stock index fell more than 3 percent at one point before recovering part of the loss, showing how quickly the political crisis unsettled investors.

Prabowo combines concessions with force

Prabowo cancelled a planned trip to China as unrest spread. He announced a reduction in lawmakers' perks, including shrinking the housing allowance, and a moratorium on overseas trips. A moratorium means those trips would be put on hold.

The president also ordered police and the military to take firm action against arson, looting and the destruction of public facilities. Speaking about the violence and attacks on officials' homes, Prabowo framed parts of the unrest as a threat to state security.

There are signs of unlawful acts, even leading to treason and terrorism. I have ordered them to take action as firm as possible against the destruction of public facilities, looting at homes of individuals and economic centres, according to the laws.

Security forces established checkpoints across cities and conducted joint patrols. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds. In Jakarta, snipers were deployed at key intersections.

Commanders also discussed turning off street lights in protest areas at night and using rubber bullets to break up crowds. These proposals added to concerns about the risks facing demonstrators and people moving through affected neighbourhoods.

Organizers in Jakarta temporarily called off rallies because of checkpoints and snipers, before returning with smaller gatherings that could move more easily. The security response was changing how people assembled, even as concessions on benefits sought to address their initial grievance.

Seven officers face demands for accountability

The National Police Commission, known as Kompolnas, recommended internal ethics trials and criminal charges for seven Brimob officers linked to Kurniawan's death, including the driver and unit commander. The officers were placed in special detention.

The two proceedings address different responsibilities. An ethics process examines an officer's conduct under police rules, while a criminal case concerns responsibility under criminal law. Kompolnas commissioners said both should proceed together so the public could follow the pursuit of justice.

Mohammad Choirul Anam, a Kompolnas commissioner, called for the two processes to run at the same time.

Both ethics and criminal proceedings must run in parallel to ensure transparency and justice.

No timetable for the proceedings or delivery of the promised family support had been announced by September 3. Calls for accountability included publishing clear schedules and allowing independent monitors access to the process.

Proposals for supporting Kurniawan's family included compensation, recognition of wrongdoing and relief from any medical debt, if such debt existed. Delivering the president's promise publicly would give the family and wider community a way to track what the government had done.

Rights groups challenge the security response

The United Nations and rights organizations pressed Indonesia to restrain the use of force and investigate alleged abuses. Their concerns drew on both the current deaths and a longer record of excessive force during demonstrations.

Human Rights Watch criticized the government's description of the unrest in terms of treason and terrorism. Meenakshi Ganguly, the organization's Asia director, warned about the authorities' approach.

The authorities have acted irresponsibly by treating the protests as acts of treason or terrorism.

Blanket checkpoints, possible blackouts at night and rubber bullet deployments raised concerns about further injuries and escalation. Several rights organizations argued for dialogue, clear routes for demonstrations and training to reduce confrontation as ways to restore order.

Herianto, a former central coordinator of the All Indonesian Students Union, called on the state to exercise restraint.

We hope the authorities act with restraint and prioritise de escalation rather than confrontation.

Foreign embassies urged their citizens to avoid protest areas. For residents, workers and demonstrators, the immediate practical concerns included passing through checkpoints, avoiding clashes and reaching destinations safely while security operations continued.

Student networks and social media sustain the movement

Student unions, campus collectives and informal groups of delivery riders helped coordinate demonstrations. Clips circulated in real time on TikTok, X and Instagram, connecting local incidents with a national audience.

TikTok temporarily suspended live streaming in Indonesia for several days in an effort to limit harmful content and calls to gather in real time. Supporters of the protests called the pause an attempt to blunt mobilization, while officials said it was needed to limit harmful content.

Online activity also carried risks. Personal information about some lawmakers circulated before their homes were vandalized or looted. The same digital spaces that spread vigils and calls for marches also became channels for targeting individuals.

Students and riders brought different daily experiences to the movement. Campus networks supported organizing across cities, while Kurniawan's death gave workers who deliver food and parcels a direct reason to demand police accountability. Their participation helped carry the protests beyond the original dispute over allowances.

A political test extending beyond parliamentary pay

Prabowo won the presidency in 2024 after courting young voters on TikTok and promising prosperity. A former special forces commander and former son in law of Suharto, he also carries allegations of human rights abuses from the closing years of Suharto's rule.

Students played a central role in forcing Suharto from power in 1998. Their renewed mobilization gave the current crisis historical weight, while Prabowo's background placed particular attention on how he would use the security forces.

Warburton, the Australian National University Indonesia Institute director, described the balance confronting the president.

It's a major test. Can he placate the protesters and bring an end to rolling demonstrations, while not resorting to excessive state violence or repression?

Force could quiet demonstrations in the short term while deepening resentment. Reducing allowances could ease one grievance, but demands had already expanded to transparency, fair economic opportunities, police reform and the relationship between civilian government and the military.

Student and labour groups wanted a wider review of compensation, travel, procurement and lobbying, with public participation. Procurement is the way public bodies buy goods and services; lobbying involves attempts to influence their decisions. Both were part of demands for greater openness about how political power and public money are used.

Herianto, the former student union coordinator, said changes to parliamentary benefits needed to be accompanied by action affecting everyday life.

Symbolic changes are important, but people expect deeper reforms, particularly in areas that affect ordinary citizens such as agricultural policy, education and fair economic opportunities.

By September 3, the government's task stretched from the investigation into one young worker's death to demands for restraint, fairer public spending and credible reform. The response to Kurniawan's killing, the treatment of demonstrators and the delivery of promised concessions had become connected tests of public trust.

At a Glance

• Affan Kurniawan, a delivery driver aged 21 working gigs for Gojek and Grab, was killed by a Brimob armoured vehicle near parliament on August 28, 2025.
• Protests began over a housing allowance of 50 million rupiah a month for each of 580 lawmakers, nearly ten times Jakarta's minimum wage.
• Demonstrations spread to at least 32 of Indonesia's 38 provinces. Police oversight officials later recorded ten deaths, more than 1,680 arrests and at least 20 missing people.
• At least three people died in a Makassar legislature fire. Deaths were also recorded during unrest in Yogyakarta and after tear gas exposure in Solo.
• Prabowo apologized, ordered an investigation, promised family support, reduced parliamentary perks, halted lawmakers' overseas trips and cancelled a planned visit to China.
• Seven Brimob personnel faced investigations, with Kompolnas calling for parallel ethics and criminal proceedings.
• Police and military operations included checkpoints and joint patrols. Tear gas, water cannons and the deployment of snipers in Jakarta drew concerns about further harm.
• Damage estimates approached 900 billion rupiah in the hardest hit regions, while Jakarta's stock index briefly fell more than 3 percent.
• Students, labour groups and riders pressed for justice, restraint and reforms extending beyond lawmakers' benefits.