Hundreds of women dressed in pink and carrying broomsticks marched to Indonesia’s parliament on Wednesday, protesting police abuses and government overspending. The demonstrations in Jakarta and other major cities have entered their second week, driven by frustration over the rising cost of living and lavish perks enjoyed by MPs. Tensions escalated after a young motorcycle taxi driver, Affan Kurniawan, was killed when a police vehicle struck him.
President Prabowo Subianto initially said he would cancel his trip to Beijing for China’s military parade but was later photographed alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Before leaving, he promised to scale back lawmakers’ perks, one of the protesters’ key demands.
At the rally, members of the Indonesian Women’s Alliance (IWA) said their broomsticks symbolized sweeping away “the dirt of the state, militarism, and police repression.” They carried signs reading “reform the police” and insisted demonstrations were a democratic right. The IWA, a coalition of 90 women’s groups, has a long history of resistance, echoing women-led protests that helped topple Suharto in 1998.
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