Indonesian government responds to viral Greenpeace banners criticising haze response

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto shares protesters’ concerns over the climate crisis and the cost of living, his spokesperson said on Oct 20, responding to a viral Greenpeace stunt that capped a day of protests dominated by anger over the haze.The government welcomed Greenpeace Indonesia’s hanging of two banners on Jakarta’s iconic Bundaran HI, criticising, among other things, the government’s response to the forest fire crisis that has sent haze across South-east Asia, said Head of the Government Communication Agency (Bakom) Syahganda Nainggolan.“The government respects Greenpeace’s action this morning as a form of freedom of expression. The impact of the climate crisis and the cost of living for citizens are also matters that the President (Prabowo Subianto) is concerned about,” Syahganda said in a statement released on the night of Oct 20.Earlier on Oct 20, which marks Prabowo’s two years as president, Greenpeace Indonesia activists unfurled two giant banners from the top of the Welcome Statue at the Bundaran HI in Central Jakarta. One banner read, in Indonesian: “Take Action on the Climate Crisis, Bring Down the Cost of Living”. The other read: “Disasters Are Getting Worse, the People Are Struggling, What Is the Government Doing?”.As they descended from the monument, two of the activists also held up smaller signs in English: “Haze & Prabowo’s Regime = National Disaster” and “No Progress Without Protest”.Though the banners were quickly taken down by police, photos and videos of the stunt have gone viral on Indonesian social media. Many online commenters agreed with the messages on the banners and praised the activists’ bravery. “This is so cool,” one wrote. “Please raise banners like this in other places too.”Greenpeace’s actions were just one among a slew of protests in several cities held to coincide with the anniversary of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran administration, most of which put the forest fires and haze on centre stage.In Jakarta, hundreds of university students took to the streets in multiple locations, with the largest crowds found near the Tugu Tani monument and the south side of Monas, both near the Presidential Palace.Protesters held up posters with slogans like: “Orangutans have more heart than orangistana (palace people)” and “The best 2-year anniversary present: forest fires”.In Yogyakarta, students rallied in front of the Yogyakarta Regional Council’s office, while in Bandung, West Java, protesters made a long march towards the city centre. Banners calling attention to the haze crisis were prominent throughout, with many bearing the slogan “All Eyes On Karhutla”, the Indonesian abbreviation for forest and land fires.The different groups had broadly similar demands, raising concerns about the cost of living and the environment. All led with a call for the government to declare the forest fires a national disaster.Protesters clashing with the police in Bandung, in Indonesia’s West Java province, on Oct 20. PHOTO: REUTERSWhile the protests were relatively small compared with mass movements in previous years, organisers have called on the wider public to join further protests on Oct 28, Indonesia’s Youth Pledge Day.“We call on the Indonesian people to join us in demanding the sovereignty of the people,” University of Indonesia student body president Yatalathof Imawan said at Tugu Tani monument on Oct 20.“On October 28th in Jakarta, we will hold a national demonstration to reclaim the sovereignty of the Indonesian people.”