Students Disappointed by Jokowi's Absence during Mass Protest
Translator
Ricky Mohammad Nugraha
Editor
Petir Garda Bhwana
Jumat, 22 April 2022 09:54 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi failed to meet the students during the mass protest held on Thursday. Trisakti students' deputy chair Niha Nihaya expressed disappointment as Jokowi instead traveled to Bogor rather than met the thousands of protestors already gathered peacefully in central Jakarta.
Niha in the rally's oration along with other students from various universities chanted "Where is Jokowi? Where is Jokowi?." The Alliance of Indonesian University Students (AMI) also participated in the act.
However, the head of the Presidential Secretariat Office Heru Budi Hartono explained that the President had already left for Bogor for a working visit in the early hours of Thursday.
In the protest, the students delivered seven demands to the President. These include firmly rejecting the discourse of an extended presidential term, urging for a reduction in staple commodities' prices, handling the country's economic discrepancy, firmly and in a non-discriminatory way handle issues regarding repressiveness acted against civilians, as well as establishing science-based education that is free and democratic.
