Indeed, the students conveyed public grievances over the skyrocketing prices of commodities, including cooking oil and fuels. And while the government was grappling with the looming crisis, some in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s circle were campaigning for an election delay that would allow Jokowi to stay in power beyond his constitutional term limit.

The Constitution protects freedom of speech and in assembling outside the House of Representatives and other spaces, the students exercised their right. Our history shows students have repeatedly taken to the street to speak up against injustices and regressions of democracy when the prevailing mechanism through the legislatures did not work.

In Jakarta, the police managed to keep peace and order during the course of the protests, until a group of people assaulted Ade. Later the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the students as tensions brewed. The police have identified some of the perpetrators of the attack on the scholar.

We condemn the brutal act and call on the police to bring those to justice who took the law into their own hands. Ade, labeled as a progovernment activist, had mingled with the protesters as he was also against an extension of the presidential term.

Over the past few years, students have organized rallies to counter the weak checks and balances the House has performed vis-à-vis Jokowi, whose coalition controls 82 percent of the legislative seats. The ruling coalition has several times bulldozed the hapless opposition to pass bills, in spite of nationwide public protests.  

The ruling coalition, too, would not find serious hurdles if they insisted on amending the Constitution to enable Jokowi to extend his term and to achieve their hidden agenda. Public pressure on social media and the loud voices of the students will hopefully force the political elite to think twice before advancing their interests at the expense of the people.

Following the student rallies, and after Jokowi said the elections should remain on schedule, political parties such as Golkar, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have backed down from their proposal to delay the elections and extend Jokowi’s term.

Opinion surveys rejecting the political elite’s agenda only show the nation does not want to repeat the past mistake of allowing a dictator to rule and stifle freedom in the name of national unity and stability.

People may understand that the price of fuel and commodities rising is the unavoidable impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But they could not tolerate certain ministers who talked about Jokowi’s term extension or another minister who promised to act against businesspeople for hoarding cooking oil, but without any progress.

Jokowi will remain in office until October 2024 and has pledged to abide by the Constitution – but he should also punish his ministers who clearly violate his orders.

As long as the government is erratic, the students will return to the streets in defense of the people.