Jakarta (ANTARA) - Hundreds of people staged a rally near the parliament building in Jakarta where President Joko Widodo was scheduled to deliver a state-of-the-nation address on the draft 2021 state budget on Friday afternoon.

The demonstrators began to flock to Gerbang Pemuda Street which is located some kilometers from the parliament building at 01.00 p.m. to hold oration, Antara observed.

The protesters came from several organizations including the People's Struggle Front, the National Student Front, and the Federation of Indonesian Labor Unions (GSBI)

In their oration, the protesters demanded that the government revoke and annul the omnibus law, and that the state must be held responsible for the layoff of thousands of workers.

They also protested against the appropriation of Indonesian workers' wages on the pretext of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Hundreds of security personnel were deployed to secure the rally. They placed a barbed wire barricade to prevent the protesters from moving to the front of the parliament building.

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to deliver a state-of-the-nation address pertaining to the 2021 draft state budget at the parliament building from 02.00 to 04.00 p.m. local time.

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Translator: Fauzi/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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