Deadly Indonesia protests force U-turn on lawmakers' perks

Indonesian political parties have agreed to cut lawmakers' benefits, President Prabowo Subianto said on Sunday, in a bid to calm anti-government protests that have killed at least five people in the country's worst violence in decades.

Protests began last Monday over what demonstrators called excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians, escalating into riots on Friday after a motorcycle rideshare driver was killed during police action at a protest site.

Homes of political party members and state buildings were ransacked or set ablaze, shaking investor confidence in the Southeast Asian economy and triggering a steep selloff on its stocks and currency markets on Friday.

Looters broke into a house owned by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati outside the capital Jakarta overnight, state news agency Antara reported on Sunday. She was not in the house at the time and it was not clear if she uses the property often.

Prabowo, speaking at a press conference at the Presidential Palace and flanked by the leaders of various political parties, said he had ordered the military and police to take stern action against rioters and looters. He said some of the unrest bore the signs of terrorism and treason.

"Leaders in parliament have conveyed that they will revoke a number of parliament policies, including the size of allowances for members of parliament and a moratorium on overseas work trips," Prabowo said.

"To the police and the military, I have ordered them to take action as firm as possible against the destruction of public facilities, looting at homes of individuals and economic centres, according to the laws."

Indonesian students and civil society groups called off protests on Monday, citing fears of heightened security measures after the riots.

The Alliance of Indonesian Women, a coalition of women-led civil society groups, said it had delayed planned protests at the parliament to avoid any crackdown by authorities.

"The delay is done to avoid increased violent escalation by authorities... the delay takes place until the situations calm down," the group said in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Student groups also delayed a protest on Monday, with one umbrella group saying the decision was "due to very impossible conditions".

It is unclear if other groups will stage demonstrations in Jakarta or other cities on Monday, with social media posts from some groups warning of fake protest flyers.