Indonesian Students to Gather Again Next Week to Protest Jobs Law

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The National Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM SI) will continue to protest against the newly passed Jobs Creation Law on October 20 as they were unable to directly meet with President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on October 16.

Bagas Maropindra, BEM SI coordinator for Greater Jakarta and Banten, said on Friday that the protesters will hold another protest as they were only received by millennial presidential expert staff members, not the president.

“Based on this, BEM SI will again stage another round of protest to urge [the president] to revoke the new Jobs Creation Law and convey our vote of no confidence to the government and House of Representatives,” said Bagas in a press statement on October 16.

Also read: Indonesian Government to Take Firm Steps against Violence Protest on Job Law

“This [the protest] is to coincide with Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin’s first year in office,” he said, referring to the presidential inauguration on October 20, 2019.

He added that the students will hold a peaceful protest and refrain from being anarchist.

Meanwhile, he said, during the protest the students demanded that the president issue a regulation in lieu of a law to revoke the Jobs Creation Law. They also criticized the government’s actions to intervene in the people’s movement against the Jobs Law.

The students condemned various repressive actions of the government against the protesters and called on all students throughout Indonesia to unite and reject the Jobs Law until it will be revoked.

One of Jokowi’s millennial presidential expert staff members, Aminuddin Ma'ruf, said that he had received the student’s demands during the protest in front of the State Palace in Jakarta.

Also read: Jokowi Finally Breaks Silence on Job Creation Law

“I have received the list of demands from our BEM SI friends and will relay their messages to the President,” Aminuddin told Kompas.com after he met the student representatives on Friday.

The students staged the protest from 1.30pm to 5pm local time in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on October 16. It was reported that President Jokowi, however, worked from the Bogor Palace, about 40 kilometers south of the Indonesian capital, receiving several guests and cabinet ministers.

Waves of protest occurred across Indonesia after the Omnibus Bill was passed into law on October 5.

(Writers: Sonya Teresa Debora, Ihsanuddin | Editors: Jessi Carina, Icha Rastika)

Sources:https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2020/10/16/22432491/hanya-ditemui-stafsus-milenial-hari-ini-bem-si-akan-kembali-gelar-aksi?page=all#page2.

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/10/16/18401171/stafsus-janji-sampaikan-pernyataan-sikap-bem-si-ke-jokowi?page=all.