Indonesian Workers Rally for Prabowo as Women March Against Him

what happened

Hundreds of workers gathered on Saturday to back Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who faces accusations that police illegally wiretapped him. Reuters reported that on the same day, hundreds of women marched in Jakarta to oppose the president's policies.

Labour Party chairman Said Iqbal, who led the workers' rally, called for unity and pledged to mobilise union members against anyone threatening the former general's rule. Said, who is also a special adviser to the president, told Detik News that the organisations are ready to keep order at any moment should unrest break out, whether stirred by foreign interests or by troublemakers at home.

Four senior police officers have been named as suspects for allegedly trying to intercept Prabowo's communications, one of them a former police chief seen as a backer of ex-president Joko Widodo. The affair has laid bare a split between Prabowo and Widodo, his predecessor and former sponsor. Widodo said he respects the legal process, and a lawyer for one suspect said the client would cooperate with investigators.

The women's march, organised by civil society groups, demanded greater women's rights and criticised Prabowo's response to forest fires that have burned for months, his expensive free-meal programme and a tax on women's sanitary products.

why it matters

Protests and rising public anger over costly populist programmes, wildfires and weaker investor confidence in Southeast Asia's largest economy add to political uncertainty. For traders, this is a risk factor for Indonesian assets, though the report does not point to any specific price move.

market impact

Indonesian assets: political rift and protests add uncertainty for investors

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