Indonesian Students Protest Prabowo's Economic Policies and Military Expansion in Jakarta

Hundreds of Indonesian university students took to the streets of Jakarta on Friday, June 12, 2026, in demonstrations labeled 'Heading to Bankrupt Indonesia,' demanding that President Prabowo Subianto reverse a recent fuel price hike, cut what they called wasteful state spending, and scrap his flagship free meals and village cooperatives programs. Authorities deployed more than 6,000 police and soldiers, who blocked protesters from reaching the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle using metal barricades; images and video showed repeated physical confrontations as students attempted to push through police lines. The protest's five key demands also included halting the expanding role of the military in civilian affairs, which demonstrators warned could echo Indonesia's authoritarian Suharto era. Indonesia's rupiah has fallen to a historic low of 18,000 to the US dollar, and state-run Pertamina raised prices of widely used fuel types by more than 30% this week, citing fiscal pressure from Prabowo's spending agenda. The free meals program, costing an estimated $15–28 billion annually, has been further tarnished by mass food poisoning incidents and a corruption probe that led Prabowo to fire the program's head earlier in June. Similar protests were held in Bandung and Pontianak, and observers noted the demonstrations mark one of the largest student mobilizations since August protests that left at least 13 people dead. The government acknowledged the concerns but defended its economic management, with State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi saying officials had been working hard to address economic challenges.