Indonesian students stage protest as Prabowo marks a year in office

Indonesian students protested in Jakarta on Monday as President Prabowo Subianto completed a year in office, two months after violent demonstrations nationwide, with one expert faulting the government on grounds of openness and public participation.

About 300 students clad in yellow and blue jackets gathered near the presidential palace while Prabowo's cabinet met, far fewer than the numbers in August's student-led protests against government policies and lawmaker perks that spread countrywide.

"Free meals programme equals poison," read a banner carried by students demanding an end to Prabowo's flagship school meals campaign for millions of students and pregnant women, but which instead gave thousands of students food poisoning.

"There are still problems that have not been tackled, although the process has started," said Maulana Sai, a 25-year-old student of Jayabaya University, who called for reforms to government policies, including the meals programme.

The August protests snowballed after a police vehicle hit and killed a delivery driver, driving up the death toll to present Prabowo with his biggest challenge since his landslide election last year.

A coalition of student groups popularly called BEM SI published a poster of Monday's protest on Instagram, accompanied by hashtags #1YearIsEnough and #1YearOfContinuousProblems.

Prabowo's first year was marred by a lack of public participation in his policies, said Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a politics researcher at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency.

"Generally, Prabowo's government experienced some turbulence in the first year, especially with regards to a lack of openness and participation," he said, citing the meals programme.

PLANS TO IMPROVE EDUCATION, MEDICAL CARE

In a wide-ranging speech to his cabinet, Prabowo defended the free meals programme on Monday, while pledging better education and medical care.

To fund his programmes, which also include free health check-ups and schools for poorer Indonesians, Prabowo has cut government spending or diverted money from other areas, such as education.

The former special forces commander has expanded the role of the military, putting soldiers to work on the meals programme and agriculture projects.

Prabowo has promised to lift economic growth to 8 per cent during a five-year term that runs until 2029. He has launched multiple stimulus packages to spark activity.