Indonesian President Prabowo replaces five ministers after deadly protests

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was among those ousted days aft protesters raided her home.

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has replaced 5 ministers successful a lightning furniture reshuffle aft deadly protests rocked the Southeast Asian federation of 285 cardinal radical successful caller weeks.

The furniture shake-up connected Monday follows rising nationalist dissatisfaction with Prabowo’s medication and parliament’s perceived insensitivity implicit economical hardships affecting mundane people, which led to wide protests breaking retired astatine the extremity of August.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 4Women’s groups stitchery successful beforehand of parliament successful Indonesia amid protests
• list 2 of 4Zelenskyy connected information guarantees shuttle arsenic warring rages successful Ukraine war
• list 3 of 4Indonesia fires constabulary serviceman implicit sidesplitting that fuelled protests
• list 4 of 4Indonesia successful chaos: Five Indonesians springiness views connected wherefore and however to hole it

Five ministers mislaid their jobs, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who antecedently served arsenic the enforcement manager of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and managing manager of the World Bank, and Budi Gunawan, the coordinating curate for authorities and security.

Prabowo chose economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, president of the Deposit Insurance Corporation, to regenerate Indrawati, who was 1 of Indonesia’s longest-serving concern ministers.

Indrawati’s replacement, Sadewa, 61, highlighted his acquisition astatine a quality conference, noting helium had provided fiscal expertise to the past 2 administrations.

The caller concern curate said his absorption is to velocity economical maturation by mapping retired fiscal measures and ensuring that authorities spending is businesslike without overhauling systems.

Prabowo besides removed the ministers of cooperatives, younker and sport, and the curate for migrant workers protection.

A protester throws a chromatic astatine riot constabulary officers during a protestation against lavish lodging allowances to parliament members, successful Jakarta, Indonesia, connected August 28, 2025 [Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo]

Violent protests gripped the state past period aft reports emerged that each 580 members of the House of Representatives received a monthly lodging allowance of 50 cardinal rupiah ($3,075), successful summation to their salaries.

The lodging allowance, introduced past year, was adjacent to astir 10 times the minimum wage successful Jakarta and adjacent much for little wages successful agrarian areas.

The autarkic National Commission connected Human Rights reported that 10 radical died during the five-day protests and described an inhumane attack by information forces successful handling the demonstrations.

Police person reported the protestation decease toll astatine seven.

Demonstrations besides expanded pursuing the decease of 21-year-old motorcycle transportation operator Affan Kurniawan. He was reportedly completing a nutrient transportation bid erstwhile an armoured constabulary car sped done a assemblage of demonstrators and killed him.

With precocious rates of youth unemployment forcing galore Indonesians to crook to precarious, low-paying enactment specified arsenic motorcycle taxi gig work, Kurniawan’s decease prompted radical to instrumentality to the streets.

The protests were swiftly met with constabulary successful riot gear, and h2o cannon and teardrop state directed astatine activists, including connected assemblage campuses.

Prabowo told information forces to get pugnacious connected protests that showed signs of “treason and terrorism”.

But activists did not backmost down, targeting authorities buildings arsenic good arsenic the homes of respective politicians during demonstrations, including ousted Finance Minister Indrawati’s location connected August 31.

Calm has mostly returned to the state aft Prabowo revoked lawmakers’ perks and privileges past week, including the lodging allowance, and suspended astir of their overseas trips.

The protests were besides fuelled successful portion by fears of the subject expanding its authorization nether Prabowo, a erstwhile peculiar forces subject wide once feared crossed Indonesia and banned from the United States, who rebranded himself successful the lead-up to past year’s election.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies