Tax Hikes, Corruption, and Inequality: What Indonesia’s Unrest Reveals About a Worldwide Divide
Article by: Michelle Yap / Graphic by: Jillian Hartshorne
America stands for democracy and the voices of its citizens. So many of us fight proudly to ensure that we get the equality that we were promised, while placing the trust in our elected officials to uphold our “Natural Rights” and to speak for the beliefs of those who elected them. The United States’ own history reminds us that democracy isn’t guaranteed; it has to be actively protected and nurtured. Yet even here, the struggle to ensure fairness, accountability, and representation continues, while other countries across the globe are fighting to have some semblance of democracy.
When Indonesia declared independence in 1945, its leaders aspired to build a democratic nation where citizens could voice their concerns and hold leaders accountable. However, over time, governmental corruption has taken over, with political parties functioning more as “cartel parties,” parties dedicated to keeping their position of power rather than properly representing their people. Ordinary Indonesians increasingly see their elected officials as self-serving and disconnected from the realities of everyday life.
Today, when hundreds of thousands of Indonesians flood the streets of cities around Indonesia, they aren’t just angry about the disproportionate tax hikes. From Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and more, the protests have become a nationwide movement involving workers, students, delivery drivers, and ordinary citizens spanning every socioeconomic background. They’re voicing a much deeper frustration: a “democracy” that’s corrupted and out of touch with the people they claim to serve. The uprisings in Indonesia reveal how inequality, government excess, and mistrust are causing unrest in Indonesia and worldwide.
Indonesians took to the streets after a housing allowance of 50 million rupiah per month ($3,075 USD) was granted to members of the parliament, nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta. For many Indonesians struggling with rising food prices, job insecurity, and stagnant wages, politicians literally dancing after tax money was basically handed to them, instead of the hardworking people who actually earned those perks, was a vivid sign of political privilege at their expense.
This was only layered on deeper economic wounds. More than 42,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the first half of 2025, leaving families without a stable income, while inflation has made basic necessities increasingly unaffordable. Citizens see their wages exploited, while lawmakers live comfortably on taxpayer-funded perks. The protests are not just about a single allowance; they’re about decades of frustration over inequality, corruption, and systemic economic exploitation.
The protests, which began in Jakarta, have spread nationwide. Reports estimate that in Jakarta alone, tens of thousands joined the initial rallies, with subsequent demonstrations in other significant cities drawing crowds of thousands to tens of thousands each, showing the scale of how widespread and organized the movement has become. They’ve been met with heavy state response, with at least six people killed, including Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old delivery driver struck and run over by a police armored vehicle; around 20 people reported missing; thousands of people arrested; hundreds of people injured during clashes; and estimated property damages of about 55 billion rupiah ($3.3 million USD). Security forces have deployed tear gas, water cannons, and armored vehicles. Civil rights groups have accused police of brutality, mentioning the deaths of several young protesters, including high-school student Andika Lutfi Falah (16), who passed after attending a rally. What began as anger over perks quickly became a mass movement against inequality and governmental corruption, amplified by a large, mobilized youth population, especially university and high-school students and Gen-Z activists coordinating protests and events online and offline. Their presence underscores the generational stakes of this struggle: young people are challenging a political system that they feel has failed them, refusing to accept a future stained by corruption and inequality.
Under pressure, President Prabowo Subianto has announced the rollback of lawmakers’ perks and suspended overseas trips for parliamentarians. However, many Indonesians view these as symbolic gestures meant to shut down the protests while avoiding addressing the structural inequalities and corruption that sparked the unrest in the first place. For the protesters, the issue isn’t just the perks or the taxes; it’s about reclaiming a democracy that works for all citizens, not just the powerful. The protests' scale, persistence, and diversity show that Indonesians demand more than temporary solutions; they require a government that genuinely represents the people. They’re willing to stand up to fight for what’s right, while the politicians and their cowardice are running away from the country to escape the consequences of their decisions, while posting insincere and performative apologies. They refuse to face the wrath of their people, which only emphasizes the corruption and cowardice stemming from the government.
Yet while Indonesians continue to risk their lives in the streets, the flow of information has been heavily restricted. Local journalists face intimidation, arrests, and censorship, limiting the reporting of protests, police brutality, and government accountability.. Social media posts and independent coverage are frequently blocked or removed, leaving many Indonesians without the complete picture of the unrest within the country. Beyond Indonesia’s borders, coverage in the United States, which champions itself as a global force for democracy, has been minimal, with major networks giving minimal attention to a nationwide movement involving hundreds of thousands of citizens, deaths, and widespread calls for reform. Indonesia is the 4th most populous country, following India, China, and the US, and it is the largest predominantly Islamic nation, so any changes in its political landscape affect the worldwide political landscape. This scant reporting starkly contrasts the media’s rapid amplification of protests and occurrences within their own country, highlighting not only the inequities within Indonesia’s political system but also the selective attention of the international media in amplifying their movement and struggles for democratic rights, even when these movements may have significant impacts on politics on the world stage.
Indonesia’s unrest is not isolated; it reflects a global fault line where citizens rise against governments they perceive as corrupt, elitist, and unresponsive. In Nepal in 2025, a Gen Z-led movement erupted after authorities banned 26 social media platforms, fueling anger over corruption and inequality. The protests left more than 51 people dead and over 1300 injured, eventually forcing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. As of September 12, 2025, the protesters have voted in former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as the interim Prime Minister over Discord, showing how much power youth have in our ever-changing global scenery.
In Indonesia and Nepal, the pattern is clear: visible government privilege or corruption collides with economic stress from the majority of the population, sparking unrest that exposes the fragility of democratic trust. Indonesia’s protests reveal not just dissatisfaction over tax hikes or parliamentary perks, but a warning about the widening divide between citizens and those who govern them. In an era of rising inequality, governments that appear more focused on protecting elites than serving the public risk losing legitimacy and public support. When desperate and pushed to do so, people, especially today’s youth, are not afraid to step up and make their voices heard, especially when they feel their voices and rights are being suppressed.
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