Indonesia’s Joko Widodo insists protests over new laws won’t stand in the way of reforms

As Widodo prepares to be sworn in for a second five-year term later this month, he faces an early test of his authority with plans to overhaul the nation’s criminal code

The legislation, which would among other things infringe on gay rights, limit free speech and punish sex outside marriage, has been criticised as a threat to Indonesia’s democracy and foreign investment

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:09am, 3 Oct 2019Updated: 1:24pm, 12 Dec 2019

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the wave of protests provoked by his government’s controversial legislative agenda will not derail reforms aimed at driving growth as his country wrestles with the implications of a global slowdown and ongoing trade war.

“Indonesia is a democracy,” the president, known as Jokowi, said during an interview in Solo in Central Java on Wednesday, noting he had the authority to push through his reforms. “If people want to express their opinions, they can, but the most important thing is no anarchy, no riots, no destroying public facilities.”

As Widodo prepares to be sworn in for a second five-year term later this month, he faces an early test of his authority with plans to overhaul the nation’s criminal code. The wide-ranging legislation, which would among other things infringe on gay rights, limit free speech and punish sex outside marriage, has been criticised as a threat to Indonesia’s democracy and foreign investment.

He has moved to delay the amendments to the criminal code but the backlash over that legislation as well as another law passed last month that weakened the country’s anti-corruption agency has affected public sentiment just months after Widodo’s landslide election win. On Wednesday, thousands of workers protested in front of the parliament over the country’s labour, wage and health insurance regulations, which they say are discriminatory.

Widodo noted there had been protests when he was mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta.

“They were normal,” he said. “As president, there are protests in front of the palace too. Sometimes I ask them to come in and I listen to what they want to say. Sometimes I don’t.”

Indonesian riot police officers carry an injured colleague during a clash with students outside parliament in Jakarta. Photo: EPA