Protesting workers who are part of the Labour Movement with the People (GEBRAK) held a protest action at the Horse Statue near the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Thursday September 4.
This afternoon, the demonstrators appeared to fill the Medan Merdeka Selatan road in the direction of Gambir train station. Earlier, they held long-march from the Thamrin business district to the Horse Statue.
As a result of the action, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan was temporarily closed. A number of police officers could be seen on guard at the location to secure the course of the demonstration.
According to Kumparan's observations at the location, the protesters gave speeches from a command vehicle. They also brought banners that contained demands such as "End Violence by the State Apparatus" and "Enact the Agrarian Reform Bill".
In addition to this, the demonstrators also presented an effigy of a rat wearing a red tie that symbolised corruptors. The rat, which was carrying the suitcase, was hung from a rope.
In a speech, Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) Chairperson Sunarno said that today's action is taking up the theme of Rakyat Menggugat (People's Challenge)
"Our struggle, the action today, is a GEBRAK action with the theme Rakyat Menggugat. This GEBRAK action also has the tagline Aksi yang Terpimpin [A Guided Action]. An organised action that will be carried out continuously until the struggle of the people can be heard", he said.
He said that Indonesia's current situation is not good. Many policies are detrimental to the ordinary people.
"The situation in our country today, what is happening right now, I liken to a fire in a husk [that could erupt into flames at any time]. How can this have happened, we can see the state of the global crisis, the economic crisis that causes the little people to be more miserable because of the many policies made by countries, namely in this case governments that actually harm the little people", he said.
GEBRAK took up the following demands during the action:
1. End the brutality of the police and the TNI (Indonesian Military), free all participants of the actions and pro-democracy activists that have been arrested. Form of an independent team to thoroughly investigate and take firm action against human rights violations, especially the cases of the recent deaths the 10 people and protesters;
2. Form a human rights court to prosecute the perpetrators of human rights violations in the past and present;
3. Totally reform of police as an institution, and return the TNI to the barracks;
4. Totally reform of the electoral system and the political parties that are the culprits behind the damage to the democratic system;
5. Abolish the privileges and cut salaries and allowances for state officials, high-ranking officers, non-ministerial institutions, commissioners and directors of state-owned enterprises (BUMN) to the equivalent of an average workers' wage, which are then redirected to the budget for free education and healthcare, subsidies and welfare programs for the ordinary people;
6. Cancel the tax rate hikes for lower- and middle-class groups and divert this burden to the conglomerates, corporations and banks by imposing progressive taxes;
7. Enact the Asset Forfeiture Bill to try and confiscate the assets of the corruptors;
8. Lower the prices of food and basic commodities (sembako), water and electricity rates, fuel, and cancel the increases to Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) contributions which are increasingly choking people's lives;
9. Abolish outsourcing systems, ensure job security and decent wages, stop mass layoffs and build national industrialisation under the full control of the people;
10. Take control of monopoly concessions and abandoned corporate land and distribute this to the people through agrarian reform to ensure justice and economic equality;
11. Cancel and revoke policies that are contrary to the Constitution and oppress the people (the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, the Criminal Code, the Mineral and Coal Mining Law, National Strategic Projects, the Forestry Law, the Draft Criminal Procedural Code, etc.);
12. Call on all elements of society and the people's movements in various regions to continue the struggle, focus on the ideals of the struggle until our demands are implemented by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo Buruh di Patung Kuda Monas, Massa Bawa Patung Tikus Berdasi".]
