[ad_1]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Police and protesters clashed in the Indonesian capital on Thursday (October 8) on the third day of protests and labor strikes against a new polarizing jobs law passed in Southeast Asia’s largest economy in early this week.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the presidential palace in central Jakarta, shouting and throwing stones. Police fired tear gas and water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowd, Reuters witnesses said.
The “omnibus” job creation bill, signed into law Monday, has seen thousands of people in the world’s fourth-most populous nation take to the streets in protest against legislation that they say undermines labor rights and weakens labor rights. environmental protections.
“We call for the law to be repealed immediately,” Maulana Syarif, 45, who has worked at Astra Honda Motors for 25 years, told Reuters in Jakarta.
“This is our fight for our children and grandchildren, and our future generations … If so, our well-being will decline and we will lack job security.”
In the past two days, 800 people have been detained in the capital, Jakarta police spokesman Yusri Yunus told Reuters.
At least two students who joined the demonstrations have been hospitalized with head injuries and six police officers injured.
“I feel a responsibility towards the Indonesian people,” said another protester, computer science student Arawinda Kartika, as she marched towards the palace.
“I feel sorry for the workers who work day and night without enough pay or energy.”
On Thursday, protests broke out in nearly a dozen cities across the country. Television channels showed demonstrations, including in remote areas like North Maluku, where people carried coffins and held mock funerals to commemorate the “death” of Parliament.
Black smoke billowed through the capital on Thursday afternoon as protesters burned public transportation facilities and damaged police posts, and low-level clashes between police and protesters continued.
The operator of Jakarta’s MRT rail network said metro stations had been closed.
The government of President Joko Widodo has championed the flagship legislation as key to boosting Indonesia’s ailing economy by streamlining regulations, cutting red tape and attracting more foreign direct investment.
Bahlil Lahadalia, director of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, called on young people to trust the intention of the rule of law, which is to create jobs.
“Rest assured, this law is to create jobs for unemployed Indonesians,” he said.
[ad_2]
