• Burmese
Friday, July 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Indonesia Protests Endanger President’s Pledge of Tough Reforms

Reuters by Reuters
October 2, 2019
in Asia
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
 A protester holds an Indonesian flag as riot police fire tear gas during a demonstration near the Indonesian parliament building in Jakarta on Sept. 30, 2019. / REUTERS

 A protester holds an Indonesian flag as riot police fire tear gas during a demonstration near the Indonesian parliament building in Jakarta on Sept. 30, 2019. / REUTERS

4.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

JAKARTA—Indonesia’s biggest student demonstrations in decades will test President Joko Widodo’s pledge to go all out in his second term to boost growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, a former finance minister and a government adviser say.

Tens of thousands of students have hit the streets in recent weeks to protest against a new law that critics say undermines the fight against corruption, alongside controversial plans to revise the criminal code and several other issues.

Widodo has vowed tough reforms, such as overhauling restrictive labor laws and freeing up foreign ownership in more areas, to reinvigorate an economy battling weak commodity prices and fallout from the US-China trade war.

RelatedPosts

Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

July 17, 2025
615
Two Myanmar Migrants Still Languish in Thai Jail Over Min Aung Hlaing Protest

Two Myanmar Migrants Still Languish in Thai Jail Over Min Aung Hlaing Protest

July 14, 2025
602
Indonesian Influencer Given 7-Year Myanmar Prison Sentence

Indonesian Influencer Given 7-Year Myanmar Prison Sentence

July 3, 2025
1.3k

But protests risk making it harder to drive through reforms, by sapping not just the president’s popularity but also that of the political parties that back him, said Chatib Basri, the finance minister in 2013 and 2014 under Widodo’s predecessor.

“Structural reforms can go forward only if there is high political capital, such as when the president adjusted fuel prices,” said Basri, referring to Widodo’s landmark decision to cut subsidies on politically sensitive fuel prices soon after taking office in 2014, while riding a wave of popular support.

“Now he won’t touch things like that. The current political condition makes it hard for the president.”

Widodo, who will be sworn in for a new term on Oct. 20, has said he faces no burdens in doing what Indonesia needs, since a president can only serve a maximum of two terms.

But pressure from the student protests has been coupled with a spike in tension and unrest in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua, as well as the worst forest fires since 2015.

And when two student protesters were killed last week, Widodo said he would consider revoking a law that critics say weakens one of Indonesia’s most popular institutions, its corruption eradication commission (KPK).

Earlier, he ordered parliament to delay a vote on changes to the criminal code to ban extra-marital sex, punish insults to the president and prescribe jail for women who get abortions, unless they face a medical emergency or suffered rape.

Cabinet jockeying

Widodo has been besieged by “extremely intense” jockeying for posts as he tries to build a cabinet of technocratic ministers, a presidential adviser said.

Initial acceptance of the controversial new laws was partly an attempt to appease parties denied cabinet posts and ensure their support in passing unpopular bills, said the adviser, who declined to be identified, due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Kevin O’Rourke, a political analyst based in the capital, Jakarta, said that while Widodo may be able to salvage the graft agency’s independence to boost his anti-corruption credentials, the prospect of economic reform looked more remote.

“The show of force by demonstrators may make Widodo reconsider certain economic reforms that inevitably engender resistance from certain groups,” O’Rourke wrote in his newsletter Reformasi Weekly.

Reforms that could be stalled include fuel subsidy cuts, changes to labor market regulations resisted by unions and land administration rules that opponents can portray as being anti-poor, O’Rourke added.

Students have already called for Widodo to drop his planned revision to labor laws.

The widely respected finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, told reporters she hoped Widodo’s reform agenda would not be bogged down by the protests.

“The public wants a better Indonesia and what have been voiced were legitimate, good messages, such as wanting to eradicate corruption,” she added.

A special official for economic issues at the presidential office did not reply to a request for comment.

Drop in FDI

With economic growth expected to slow for the first time since 2015 to 5.1 percent this year, Basri said there was limited room for fiscal and monetary policies to counter that momentum.

The government has forecast 5.3 percent growth next year, though Basri, who now lectures on economics, predicts growth could slip below 5 percent in 2020.

The central bank has cut interest rates three times this year and sought to inject liquidity into financial markets to lift growth.

Basri said flagging tax revenue meant the government had been forced to put a lid on spending, while bond issuances to plug a fiscal deficit were causing a “crowding out” of market liquidity.

“The only solution is to get money from abroad to come in through foreign direct investment,” he said. “But how can you attract investment without structural reforms?”

FDI in the first half of 2019 slipped 6.6 percent from a year earlier to $14.2 billion, government figures show.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Corruptioneconomic reformIndonesiaJoko WidodoPresidentProtestStudents
Reuters

Reuters

...

Similar Picks:

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption
Burma

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

by The Irrawaddy
September 14, 2023
28.7k

The arrest of ‘kickback king’ Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, once seen as a possible successor to Min Aung Hlaing, comes...

Read moreDetails
Post-Coup Myanmar is a Family Business: Min Aung Hlaing & Co
Burma

Post-Coup Myanmar is a Family Business: Min Aung Hlaing & Co

by David Aung
February 8, 2024
18k

Min Aung Hlaing is an opportunistic businessman in military uniform and his children are more mercenary than the offspring of...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Reportedly Set to Prosecute High-Profile Businessmen for Corruption
Junta Cronies

Myanmar Junta Reportedly Set to Prosecute High-Profile Businessmen for Corruption

by The Irrawaddy
October 18, 2023
15.9k

Regime cronies Thein Win Zaw and Mu Mu Shein are set to follow former lieutenant general Moe Myint Tun as...

Read moreDetails
Unholy Alliance: Myanmar’s Mercedes Monks and the Men in Green
Commentary

Unholy Alliance: Myanmar’s Mercedes Monks and the Men in Green

by Aung Zaw
June 7, 2024
12.9k

Myanmar’s monks once led the fight against colonialism and dictatorship. Today, many prefer to collect fancy cars in return for...

Read moreDetails
Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip
Business

Planeload of Cronies Accompany Myanmar Junta Boss on Russia Trip

by Hein Htoo Zan
March 7, 2025
11.7k

Regime-linked businessmen are set to cash in on deals flowing from the 10 agreements signed between Russia and the Myanmar...

Read moreDetails
By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes
Analysis

By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes

by Khin Nadi
February 2, 2024
10.8k

The Irrawaddy unpacks the regime’s three-year track record of violence and rights abuses, as assessed by leading global organizations and...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Mahatma Gandhi in 1939.

150 Years Since Gandhi Was Born

The entrance of a high school in Paletwa Township, Chin State. / Chit Min Tun / The Irrawaddy

No Teachers at 118 Schools in Myanmar’s Chin State as Rakhine Conflict Shakes Region

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

3 days ago
1.4k
Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

1 day ago
1.2k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Karen Fighters Push for Myanmar Junta Outpost on Thai Border

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.