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JAKARTA: Tear gas was fired near the presidential palace in Jakarta on Thursday (October 8) afternoon, where protesters gathered to protest against the new Job Creation Law.
A large crowd of people took to the streets on the third day of heated protests over the general job creation law passed on Monday that they said would favor companies and investors at the expense of workers.
Chaos erupted at 2 p.m. when protesters attempted to break through a police barricade guarding West Merdeka Street, where key government offices are located.
Protesters gather to protest against the government’s proposed labor reforms in a controversial “job creation” bill in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 8, 2020. REUTERS / Willy Kurniawan
They threw stones and the police responded with tear gas, sending them to safety. A police post was burned down.
The tear gas firing continued from 3:00 p.m., when more protesters arrived.
Chaos near the presidential palace in Jakarta, where protesters have gathered to protest the recently passed job creation law. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
Earlier, more than 1,000 protesters protested near the parliament complex in Jakarta at noon.
The protesters arrived on motorcycles and immediately obstructed Jakarta’s Gatot Subroto Street, but were blocked by hundreds of police armed with tear gas canisters and full combat gear.
Protesters protest against the government’s new employment law in Jakarta on October 8, 2020 (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
There was a clash with some protesters yelling at the police officers, demanding that they open their barricade. Others chanted “Long live the workers!”, Among other slogans, while honking their horns and accelerating their motorcycles.
After a 10-minute standoff, the protesters agreed to move to the nearby Jakarta Convention Center.
They disbanded about 40 minutes later, after police ordered them to leave on the grounds that the protest had violated the physical distancing rule to stop the spread of COVID-19.
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Elsewhere, there were numerous reports in the media of similar protests organized across the country that ended in violence.
There were also reports of hundreds of arrests, including those who attempted to break through police barricades and defied orders to disperse.
A heavy security presence was observed near the parliament complex and around the presidential palace in Jakarta on October 8, 2020 (Photo: Nivell Rayda).
On Thursday morning, a heavy security presence was seen near the parliament complex and around the presidential palace, with thousands of heavily armed officers in riot gear and armored vehicles waiting. The streets and highways surrounding the two locations have also been closed with barbed wire and concrete barriers.
Police have also dispatched hundreds of officials to Jakarta’s border areas to prevent people from outside Jakarta from joining the protests.
READ: Hundreds of people celebrated in Indonesia as tempers rage on second day of protests over new employment law
Iyut Bastcho, from the Confederation of Independent Labor Unions, told CNA on Thursday afternoon that many protesters were stranded as police completely closed access from Cikarang, an industrial zone 20 kilometers east of Jakarta, to the capital.
He expressed disappointment at the bill’s passage Monday despite widespread rejection.
“(Indonesian President) Jokowi still has a chance to do the right thing and veto the law and prevent it from being enacted.
“You should listen to people’s wishes. But we are pessimistic that you would do that,” he said.
Protesters protest against Indonesia’s new employment law, which workers fear will undermine labor rights, in Jakarta on October 8, 2020 (Photo: Nivell Rayda).
Going forward, Bastcho said the unions would consider challenging the law in the Constitutional Court.
“We have challenged the old labor law 13 times and some (attempts) were successful. And the old law was better than the new one. Therefore, we are optimistic that the Constitutional Court will repeal the law or some of the articles that violate our rights. . as workers, “he said.
