Why Jakarta Students Are Insistent on HI Roundabout Protest Site

8 hours ago 5

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A crowd of protesters from the Student Executive Board of University of Indonesia (BEM UI) alliance are still held by the police in the Semanggi and Senayan areas on Friday afternoon, June 12, 2026. The students are en route to HI Roundabout, where they plan to stage a 'Towards Indonesia's Bankruptcy' (Menuju Indonesia Bangkrut) demonstration.

BEM UI chair Yatalathof Ma'shum Imawan said more than 1,000 students would join the rally, departing from their Depok campus on several buses divided into 16 groups.

But police are blocking their way; the students are directed to protest in front of the parliamentary complex instead. The students, however, rejected the instruction.

"We are still working to ensure that we can still stage the protest at the HI Roundabout," said Yatalathof in the HI Roundabout area on Friday.

Why HI Roundabout?

The student board chair said the HI Roundabout area was selected for the protest location to symbolize the students' distrust in the government. For this reason, they deliberately avoided the Presidential Palace as the meeting point.

The student alliance also believes that protesting at the parliament will not result in any changes, as the House of Representatives now represents the government's interests more than people's aspirations. "They are now a mere administrative counter for the government," he said.

Students were seen walking from the Semanggi and Senayan areas towards the HI Roundabout in the afternoon, still striving to protest at the predetermined location.

Tempo has contacted the Head of Public Relations for the Jakarta Metro Police, Commissioner General Budi Hermanto. However, as of the writing of this article, there has been no response.

Yatalathof earlier mentioned that several organizations and student boards at other campuses were set to join the protest. These include BEM UI and the students' board of 15 faculties at UI, BEM KM IPB, BEM PNJ, BEM Pancasila University, Gunadarma BEN Alliance, FMN Pusat, FMN UI, Pembebasan, and Semar UI. "The student organizations and student movements that participated in yesterday's consolidation will confirm the presence and number of protesters in tonight's meeting," Yatalathof said.

The students are raising five demands in today's protest; reducing what they describe as inefficient state spending, lowering prices of basic commodities and fuel, halting the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program and the Red and White Village Cooperatives initiative, ending military involvement in civilian affairs, and urging President Prabowo Subianto's administration to acknowledge and address policy shortcomings.

Ricky Juliansyah contributed to the writing of this article.

Read: 'Indonesia Bankruptcy': What to Know About Student Protest in Jakarta Today

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