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View all search resultsFence of distrust
If policy implementation is too divisive or too drastic, President Prabowo Subianto may find that the fence of distrust grows even higher among the public, even as the physical ones come down.
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A visitor walks past a wall at the entrance of Kota Kasablanka shopping mall on Sunday in South Jakarta. A tall metal fence that had previously been installed in front of the mall's entrance and exit had been removed, based on observations made at the scene at about 11 a.m. (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
T
he Aug. 17 Independence Day celebration is usually ceremonial, including the president’s visit to the House of Representatives to deliver the State of the Nation Address and the state budget plan for the following year.
But after the country witnessed last year's August unrest, its largest nationwide riots since 1998, it is hard to shake the fear that the same thing could happen again this year.
A string of protests last year over lawmakers’ large allowances and grievances about the government’s fiscal priorities, just days before President Prabowo Subianto’s speech, culminated in unrest in Jakarta and other cities and regencies, leaving at least 10 people dead and thousands of protesters arrested.
Jakarta alone swallowed Rp 55 billion (US$3.05 million) in economic losses from damaged infrastructure during the two-week long protests, according to the city administration.
It is no wonder that shopping malls and office buildings across Greater Jakarta and Surabaya erected high perimeter fences ahead of this year’s Independence Day. Memories of the 1998 tragedy, when the capital and the rest of the country were swept by protests and unrest following Soeharto’s fall, no longer seem so distant.
Worse, rumors about large street protests have circulated on social media, accompanied by photos and videos from last year’s unrest.
A study by Monash University Indonesia has found that 99 percent of the posts were reposts and showed signs of coordination among several accounts. Yet, fear and anxiety of large protests continue to brew among Indonesians despite the country’s politics and economic conditions remaining relatively stable.
