Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday spoke out against protests over economic conditions and inequality, saying some actions in rallies that have spread across the country in recent days amounted to treason and terrorism.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy was rocked by protests in major cities, including the capital Jakarta, in recent days after footage spread of a motorcycle taxi driver being run over by a police tactical vehicle at an earlier rally against perks for lawmakers.
“The rights to peaceful assembly should be respected and protected. But we cannot deny that there are signs of actions outside the law, even against the law, even leaning towards treason and terrorism,” Prabowo said in a speech in Jakarta.
He said protests should take place peacefully, and if people destroyed public facilities or looted private homes, “the state must step in to protect its citizens”.
His comments come after the house of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was looted overnight, with soldiers guarding her residence, a witness told AFP on Sunday.
Anger has spread to lawmakers, and several have reportedly had their houses ransacked in recent days.
The grievances of protesters are many, but rallies this week focused on the revelation that lawmakers were receiving a housing allowance nearly 10 times higher than the minimum wage in Jakarta.
At least three people were killed after a fire started by protesters at a council building in the eastern city of Makassar.
Two workers died at the scene, and a third person, a civil servant, died in hospital.
Crowds were seen cheering and clapping as flames engulfed the building, with few security forces in sight.
Major test
Protests have spread to other major cities, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya in Java, and Medan in North Sumatra province.
On Saturday, a local council building was burned on the island of Lombok, while a police headquarters in the eastern Javan city of Surabaya was set on fire.
The protests are the biggest and most violent of Prabowo’s presidency, a key test for the ex-general less than a year into his rule.
He pledged an investigation into the killing of motorcycle gig driver Affan Kurniawan and promised to help his family. Seven officers in the tactical van were detained for further investigation.
The crisis has forced Prabowo to cancel a planned trip to China next week for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II in order to monitor the situation.
Prabowo has pledged fast, state-driven growth, but has already faced protests against widespread government budget cuts.
In response to the protests, social media app TikTok said on Saturday it had temporarily suspended its live feature for “a few days” in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users.