At least 500 protesters gathered outside the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Monday afternoon as dozens of police officers watched on. Soldiers were present earlier but left after several hours.

Thousands more rallied in Palembang, South Sumatra and hundreds gathered separately in Banjarmasin in Central Kalimantan, Yogyakarta and Makassar, South Sulawesi, according to AFP journalists around the country.

"Our main goal is to reform the parliament. We hope the parliament will come out and meet us. We want to talk to them directly, they are our representatives," protester and university student Nafta Keisya Kemalia, 20, told AFP outside the House building.

"Do they want to wait until we have a martial law?"

The Makassar gathering was close to the local legislative building that was burned to the ground on Friday. 

"The President's statement yesterday did not accommodate demands from students and civil society," said the leader of a student group from Makassar State University.

The leader, Syamry, who only goes by one name, said students also had other, deeper demands, such as comprehensive reform in the police.

The deadly protests, which began last week over MP housing allowances nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta, have forced President Prabowo Subianto and House leaders to make a U-turn over the measures.

Demonstrations began peacefully, but turned violent against the nation's elite paramilitary police unit after footage showed one of its teams running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan late Thursday.

Protests have since spread from Jakarta to other major cities, in the worst unrest since Prabowo took power.

Police set up checkpoints across the capital on Monday, while officers and the military conducted city-wide patrols and deployed snipers in key locations, while the usually traffic-clogged streets were quieter than usual.

Hundreds of soldiers were camped at the city's national monument and some were stationed outside the presidential palace, according to an AFP journalist.

At least one group, the Alliance of Indonesian Women, said late Sunday it had cancelled its planned protest because of heightened security.

Schools and universities in Jakarta were holding classes online until at least Tuesday, and civil servants based in the city were asked to work from home.

On Monday Prabowo paid a visit to injured police at a hospital where he criticised protesters.

"The law states that if you want to demonstrate, you must ask for permission, and permission must be granted, and it must end at 6:00 pm," he said.