What types of groups have been involved in the uprising? And to what extent are they unified?

There are many organizations, networks, and groups formulating demands. One could say that each city even has its own unique demands.

Generally there are two “revolutionary” demands: the first from the socialist party of Indonesia, Perserikatan Sosialis (PS), and the other, a loose, informal, and decentralized network that issued the Declaration of the Indonesian Federalist Revolution 2025, which calls for the dissolution of the unitary state and the DPR (Indonesia’s House of Representatives) system and its replacement with a Democratic Confederalism of thousands of people’s councils for the implementation of direct democracy. Ahmad Sahroni, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the National Democratic (NasDem) Party, called these demands “stupid.” This resulted in his house in North Jakarta being attacked and looted on August 30.

Insurrectionary anarchists, individualists, and post-leftists focus on attacks and street clashes, calling for the destruction of the state and capitalism, but without bothering with a platform or a program of demands that simply calls for the reform of what already exists.

Generally, there is no united front, but we avoid excessive ideological sectarianism.

Unfortunately, there are also progressive liberals with more reformist demands, such as the 17+8 demand (a “pro-democracy” activist slogan calling for reformist demands to be met by September 5, 2025). This group is highly influenced by liberal online influencers urging the protests to stop. These influencers have gone so far as to claim that the protesters will be responsible if the military declares martial law due to the resistance demonstrated in the streets (typical recuperative centrist gaslighting and demonization of revolutionary resistance and organizations). Fortunately, all the left-wing and anarchist elements agree that the protests should escalate. We don’t know what will happen yet, as this discourse war is still ongoing.

Honestly, there are too many groups involved in the uprising to offer a simple answer. The entire left-wing and anarchist movements from various organizations took to the streets, but there was no united front. In each city, progressive elements of society, whether university students, labor unions, or even schoolchildren, consolidated their actions. Some actions were organic and emerged as uncoordinated community initiatives, such as the attacks on police posts and stations, in which several of them were burned.

How are anarchists contributing to the uprising?

I’m a revolutionary pessimist, influenced by the discourse of anarcho-nihilism. But I still advocate social revolution because there is no empty social space. Indonesia is the most multicultural archipelago in the world, with thousands of ethnicities and languages. A discourse of separatism is surfacing in some regions. Some nobles from ancient monarchies are pushing for revivalism. There are also authoritarian Islamic fundamentalists and jihadists who want a caliphate in the country. So I think it’s impossible for revolutionaries not to offer their program as an alternative to all these bad possibilities. The wave of rebellion is a symptom of the impending great division, and anarchists must take a role. Otherwise, the choices are bad. Very, very bad.

What do you think will come of this uprising? And what do you see for the future of the anarchist movement in Indonesia?

I’m pessimistic about this. We’ve established ourselves in several cities, but we’re relatively weak overall, even though we’re fundamentally quite militant.

We’re influenced by the Uruguayan approach of Espesifismo, which involves two-tier organizing. This means that in addition to joining political organizations, we also join grassroots organizations like labor unions, student organizations, indigenous organizations, and so on.

We still use the classic definition of revolution, but this requires a strong people’s organizational base to make it happen. Despite this, the recent uprisings have been repeating themselves like a routine cycle since 2019. This excites us because it means we must push ourselves to keep pace with the popular uprisings and the will of the masses. But we must grow and increase our militancy to remain relevant with the pace of people’s rage.

I don’t believe there will be reform unless there is a violent overthrow of power and the incumbent promises reform. The current ruling class has formed a bloated coalition that embraces all of its former opposition and “gives them a piece of the pie.” So far, we are the only members of the informal, decentralized anti-authoritarian network calling for the president and vice president to be removed. The problem is, there hasn’t been any demand for their removal. So, reform will still take time, and an anarchist revolution is impossible due to organizational weaknesses and the absence of progressive labor unions capable of leading a national strike.

However, the people’s organic demand to dissolve parliament through the hashtag #bubarkanDPR [“disband the DPR”], the involvement of a more diverse mass of people in the protests (Indonesia is known for romanticizing student vanguardism in 1965 and 1998), and the use of violence, represent progress that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Anarchists have played a crucial role in this. Still, I personally don’t think the anarchist movement will lead to an anarchist revolution, even if the opportunity exists. But it could exert a huge libertarian influence through a united front working within established groups. For example, the proposal for a revolutionary democratic confederalism, which is actually in line with classical anarchist proposals, would likely be accepted by the entire spectrum of the existing left and separatist national liberation movements in some regions. Maybe.

The 2020 protests against the Omnibus Law were also significant, but this year’s uprising is the bloodiest, the most devastating, and the most engaging (we saw a significant amount of radicalization among elements of society). It still hasn’t surpassed the escalation seen during the fall of Suharto’s militaristic regime in 1998. However, I’m confident that could happen soon.

Unfortunately, I’ve been warning since yesterday that when the awaited moment arrives, we won’t be ready for revolution, even though we will respond mainly by participating in street battles.

What are ways people outside Indonesia can act in solidarity?

Demonstrating outside of embassies is one way people can show their support. Additionally, funding for anti-repression efforts is and will continue to be critical. The FireFund for the Indonesian Safe House Network is an active project that donors from abroad can give to. The project helps with the procurement of safe houses for revolutionary individuals and offers financial support to individuals facing repression, to political prisoners, and to prisoner unions.