Students lead protests in Indonesia's major cities

They press lawmakers over scrapping of contentious Bill amid worries for democracy

- Aqil Hamzah

Protesters gathered outside Jakarta's Parliament complex for the second day on Aug 23, keeping up the pressure on lawmakers who have promised to scrap a controversial Bill to block candidates not backed by President Joko Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto from participating in regional elections come November.

Led by university students, the peaceful protests also took place elsewhere in the capital and other major cities in Indonesia, including Bandung, Surabaya and Semarang, on Aug 23.

The protests continued despite rising heat from the late morning, and followed clashes on the evening of Aug 22 in front of the Parliament complex involving protesters who burned tyres and pelted stones, and anti-riot police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse them. The authorities said more than 300 people have been detained so far.

The protests on the streets were reflected online, with deep anger and accusations on social media of political manoeuvring by Mr Widodo and his successor, Mr Prabowo, that is widely seen as dragging Indonesia's young democracy back onto an authoritarian path.

Among those massed in front of the Parliament complex on Aug 23 was Mr Ruben Bentiyan, 24, a student at Djuanda University in Bogor a city in West Java - who had turned up with several of his schoolmates after taking the train in a roughly 90-minute journey.