Calm has slowly returned to the capital after a week of protests over lawmakers’ conduct and monthly perks, which escalated following last Thursday’s tragic killing of an ojol (online motorcycle transportation) driver by a Jakarta Police Mobile Brigade vehicle.

On Wednesday, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung lifted the work from home (WFH) policy for civil servants that had been in place since Friday, saying that office activities could resume with the gradual return to normalcy, adding that all transportation services were running as usual.

On the same day, President Prabowo Subianto joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Beijing to attend China’s 80th Victory Day parade marking the end of World War II, after canceling his trip on Saturday over the widespread protests in Jakarta and other major cities. He returned to Indonesia that evening after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The TNI maintained a visible presence on Sept. 3 in the capital, where soldiers patrolled main thoroughfares and armored vehicles were stationed at strategic spots in Central Jakarta, including on the grounds of the National Monument complex, outside the State Palace compound, at ministries and the Harco Glodok trade mall.

A man speaks on a mobile phone next to an armored vehicle of the Indonesian Military (TNI) parked at the Glodok Harco trade mall in West Jakarta on Sept. 2, 2025, as part of a joint public order operation with the National Police. (Antara/Fauzan)

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has called for an end to the troop deployment in Jakarta, as it risked breaching constitutional limits on military involvement in civilian affairs.