Students and pro-democracy activists in Indonesia have dismissed allegations that recent nationwide protests against proposed changes to the election law were backed by the Central Intelligence Agency or other foreign agents, as observers warn such claims could be used to stifle future dissent.
On August 22, tens of thousands of students and other Indonesians took to the streets to reject a parliamentary move that undermined several rulings by the constitutional court on age eligibility and electoral thresholds for regional elections in November. Protests continued earlier this week in some cities such as Semarang and Makassar despite a decision by Indonesian lawmakers to cancel the passing of the controversial bill.
The scale and speed of the protests last week echoed the 1998 student-led demonstrations that triggered the resignation of dictator Suharto, analysts say. However, the protests have fuelled speculations about the trigger behind them.
Political elites in Jakarta have sought to temper tensions by calling for unity or ambiguously blaming the protests on foreign provocateurs. On Saturday, incoming President Prabowo Subianto claimed in a speech that the 1998 political conflict was caused by “incitement by foreign powers”. He did not directly link last week’s protests to any country or foreign entities.
“In 1998, we were on the verge of taking off, but we were [tricked] by foreign powers. If there is an Indonesian elite that [does not know] what happened in 1998, I suggest, please study again,” Prabowo said at an event organised by the Islam-based National Mandate Party. He ended the speech by calling for unity among the political elites.
Prabowo, a former son-in-law of Suharto, was discharged from the military over accusations that he played a role in the kidnapping pro-democracy activists involved in the 1998 protests.
Since Prabowo aligned himself with President Joko Widodo, the defence minister has repeatedly voiced concerns about foreign meddling in Indonesia, particularly during last year’s presidential campaign.
On Tuesday, the 72-year-old former general doubled down on his anti-West narrative, saying that opposition against the government is “Western culture”.
“Some say, ‘[my] coalition is so fat’ … Let’s not follow the Western culture, they love opposition. [They like to] fight, the opposition refuses to cooperate,” he said.
‘Indonesians are not that stupid’
Allegations of foreign intervention have also surfaced in online posts. On social media platform X, user @davidkersten claimed that last week’s protest was “another CIA coup” to topple Widodo as he was “pro-Palestinian and pro-China”.
The user cited an article published in September by American far-left website MintPress News, which claimed a CIA-linked organisation was preparing a “colour revolution” in Indonesia.
The allegation has drawn criticism from Indonesians.
“How belittling,” X user Nita Handastya said. “The Indonesian people [are] able to discern injustice in our politics and take action. It is a normal democracy process, to voice out our concern publicly. Not everything has to be a CIA-backed coup.”
The CIA played a key role during the 1965-1966 anti-communist massacres in Indonesia, which paved the way for Suharto to seize power from Sukarno, who was close to the rulers in China and the Soviet Union at the time.
Titi Anggraini, an advocate for fair elections, said “Indonesians are not that stupid to be driven by foreign interests, especially for issues concerning the interests of the rule of law and constitutional compliance”.
Jacqui Baker, a lecturer specialising in Indonesian politics at Australia’s Murdoch University, said the fear of foreign meddling “is justified when you think about the kind of dark history that Western allies have played in Indonesian history”.
“However, we need to separate those histories and the struggle for sovereignty in Indonesia from narratives that serve Indonesia’s domestic political elites,” she warned.
The recent claims that CIA or foreign powers were behind last week’s protests “discredit the anger of the Indonesian people and [they] effectively defend or shield political elites from justified criticism by the wider Indonesian society,” Baker said.
Prabowo’s rhetoric targeting the West could be useful for him after his installation as president on October 20, Baker said.
“To me, this is a pregame strategy prior to coming into power so anybody who doesn’t agree with Prabowo, who doesn’t want to unify under his rule and to his interests, can be slated as working for foreign stooges or foreign interests.”
03:24
Fears of black magic envelop Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara
Fears of black magic envelop Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara
No foreign stooges
Verrel Uziel, head of the Student Executive Board at the University of Indonesia, which led the demonstration in front of the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta on August 22, said the recent protest was born “pure out of anxiety” driven by the “Jokowi government treating the country as if it’s theirs to toy with”.
“The claim needs to be proven, how can you accuse [us of being backed by] the CIA?” the 22-year-old told This Week in Asia.
Verrel said the student body started the protest movement on August 21 around 2pm after it heard that parliament discussed a draft bill to change the elections rules, followed by a Zoom meeting at 8pm attended by more than 500 participants including other campuses.
“In less than 24 hours, we could [organise] tens of thousands of people to join [the protest]. From our university, we mobilised 1,200 students, transported by 53 minivans and 12 city buses,” he said.
To fund the protest, the student body organised an open donation, which helped garner around 30 million rupiah (US$1,950), Verrel said.
Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati, executive director at Jakarta-based Association for Elections and Democracy, or Perludem, said the allegations of foreign intervention showed there was an effort to “kill the messengers” by casting doubt on the authenticity of the protests.
The MintPress article has accused Perludem of being funded by the CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy. It also claimed Washington would meddle in the presidential election, which has been dismissed as a “baseless” accusation by the US embassy in Indonesia in February.
Khoirunnisa said Perludem received funds from “non-binding third parties” such as USAID and the Dutch embassy in Indonesia.
Since their demand to abandon the election bill was met by lawmakers, students have vowed to continue monitoring any moves by Widodo and his allies to expand his political reach including after his political exit in October, according to Verrel.
“We want to monitor the president’s performance until the end to ensure that there are no more problematic bills, and no more policies that are not siding with the people.”
