Hundreds of workers rallied in support of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Saturday, while hundreds of women marched against his policies on the same day, in a split-screen portrait of a presidency under growing strain.
The workers’ rally was organised in the president’s defence, days after police said senior officers had illegally intercepted his communications. Labour Party chairperson Said Iqbal, who led the demonstration, called for unity behind Prabowo and said union members stood ready to defend his presidency. “We can mobilise members of our organisation across every town, every factory,” he was quoted as saying by Detik News. “We are prepared to respond at any moment to maintain order should any unrest arise, whether instigated by foreign interests or by individuals seeking to cause trouble.”
Police have now named four senior officers as suspects in the alleged wiretapping. The latest, Inspector General Slamet Uliandi, was named on Thursday. Investigators allege he authorised the deletion of files containing intercepted communications in early October. He has not been detained because he is recovering from a stroke. The other three suspects, detained on Tuesday, include former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who had been appointed the president’s chief of staff only weeks earlier and was sacked on Wednesday.
Police say the interceptions targeted the president, cabinet ministers, politicians, journalists, businesspeople and civic leaders, beginning in early 2025. Thirteen officers have been questioned and investigators have seized 11 mobile phones, an iPad and four flash drives. Senior legal affairs minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra has said investigators are examining whether the case could involve treason under the criminal code, though he has also cautioned that no motive has yet been established and no evidence of treason has been found so far. The men are suspects, not convicted, and the allegations against them remain unproven.
The scandal has exposed a deepening rift between Prabowo and his predecessor and former backer, Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi. Listyo is regarded as a Jokowi loyalist, and the affair has fuelled speculation about a power struggle at the top of Indonesian politics. Jokowi has said he respects the legal process.
The women’s march told a different story. Civil society groups marched through the capital with nine demands spanning economic, social, environmental and health concerns, protesting against Prabowo’s handling of wildfires that have burned for months, his costly free school meals programme and a tax on women’s sanitary products. It was the latest in a series of protests against his administration, following student rallies in Jakarta and other cities last week.
The twin demonstrations underline the pressures closing in on a president who took office in October 2024 promising to lift growth to 8 per cent by 2029. Public discontent has grown over his big-spending populist policies, the months-long wildfire emergency and weakening investor confidence in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, worth about $1.5 trillion. For now, the streets of Jakarta are carrying both sides of that argument at once.
Sources: Reuters, “Indonesian workers rally for Prabowo as women march against president“; BusinessWorld, “Indonesia names fourth senior police officer as wiretapping suspect amid deepening political rifts“.
