Death of delivery driver sparks nationwide protests across Indonesia

A 21-year-old motorcycle rideshare driver killed by police in Jakarta has intensified a week of anti-government demonstrations across Indonesia, prompting apologies from senior officials and renewed calls for cuts to lawmakers' pay and benefits.

Police in the capital ran over and killed Affan Kurniawan on Thursday night following clashes between demonstrators and security forces, according to witnesses and media reports. President Prabowo Subianto and the chief of police publicly apologised for his death, but the incident fuelled further unrest that has spread beyond Jakarta to provinces including West Java, Bali and Lombok.

The demonstrations began on 25 August in Jakarta as mass protests against what many Indonesians viewed as excessive pay and housing allowances for members of parliament. Those financial perks, announced shortly before the unrest, stirred public anger amid rising cost-of-living pressures and long-standing frustration with the political elite.

By the end of the week the demonstrations had turned violent: protesters set fire to some buildings and looted the homes of several politicians, and security forces used force to try to clear crowds, witnesses and local media said. Indonesia's co-ordinating minister for economic affairs said at least seven people had died in the unrest by Monday.

The killing of Kurniawan, a delivery driver who had been working as a motorcycle rideshare courier, became a rallying point overnight, turning anger over perceived elite privilege into wider street mobilization. Demonstrations that started in front of the national legislature in Jakarta spread to other urban centres and tourist islands, disrupting transport and local commerce.

Faced with mounting public pressure and violent scenes, some politicians moved to scale back the pay and housing allowances that triggered the initial demonstrations. Authorities said they were taking steps to restore order while investigating incidents in which protesters and police clashed.

The unrest exposed broader grievances over economic hardship and perceptions of inequality in Indonesia, a populous archipelago governed from Jakarta. Government officials have acknowledged the depth of public anger and said they would address the issues raised, while investigators probe the circumstances surrounding Kurniawan's death.

As the protests continued into the week, authorities faced the challenge of calming tensions without further violence. The situation remained fluid, with demonstrations and localised clashes reported across several islands and a high level of public attention on the government's response and any further changes to parliamentary remuneration.