Indonesian Protests Spread As Looting Hits Lawmakers' Homes

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Demonstrations in Indonesia continued to spread overnight with local reports of looting at the homes of several lawmakers, as President Prabowo Subianto cancelled plans to visit China and TikTok suspended an app tool that had been used to live-broadcast protests.

The president has ordered firm measures against“anarchic acts,” National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said on television on Saturday, speaking alongside Indonesian military commander Agus Subiyanto. Embassies in Jakarta, including those of the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore, issued warnings for their citizens in Indonesia to avoid crowds and protest areas.

The protests, sparked by a recent pay hike for lawmakers amid discontent over jobs and wages, morphed into broader anger after a motorcycle taxi driver was run over by an armored police vehicle on Thursday and died. Prabowo scrapped plans on Saturday night to attend a major security summit in China, underlining the government's growing concern about the demonstrations that have rocked the nation in the past week and hurt stocks and the rupiah.

“A worsening economy, spending cuts, corruption - no one believes that anything good is being done to fix those issues and the feeling is Parliament has lost touch with the people,” said Vedi Hadiz, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne.“These are the organic grievances of the people.”

Rioters took items from the house of Ahmad Sahroni, a member of parliament from NasDem Party who called protesters“stupid” a few days earlier, according to Detik. Looters also broke into Eko Patrio's house, a comedian-turned-lawmaker from the National Mandate Party. The reports of looting could not be independently verified.

Demonstrations have left at least three people dead and dozens of buildings and public facilities destroyed as they ignored the president's earlier call for calm. A TikTok spokesperson on Saturday said it's“voluntarily” suspending its Live function in light of the escalating violence.

While citizens have the right to expression and assembly,“demonstrations currently taking place in several regions tend to violate” the law, Listyo said, citing the burning of buildings and public facilities and the attacks on police headquarters.

Indonesia's equity benchmark has retreated from a record and was the world's worst-performing primary index on Friday after it dropped 1.5%.

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