The safeguarding is being done so that the university students can truly voice their aspirations without any influence from parties keen to take advantage of the students.
"Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), everything works out well, and the police will certainly give its best so that the students' demonstration process can proceed safely and successfully, and have their aspirations conveyed," the police chief said.
The stakeholder, in this case, the government, will hear and is expected to follow up on the wishes of the students, Prabowo added.
He stressed that he had already instructed officials on duty to safeguard the students' demonstration.
The instruction was aimed at guaranteeing freedom of speech for students, in accordance with the democratic tradition of the country.
This has become very important because university students are the vanguards of democracy who always voice out their critiques.
"We certainly have to protect it," he remarked.
Concerning several demonstrators that had been secured, Prabowo said that some of the students had brought sharp weapons, but no one had brought firearms thus far. The authorities are still investigating the matter.
Related news: Jokowi asks political parties to stop talking about election delay
Students under BEM SI held simultaneous demonstrations in various cities, primarily Jakarta, on April 11, 2022.
Students from both state and private universities urged President Joko Widodo to be assertive in the discourse on the general elections’ delay and Presidential term extension.
They also asked the President to control the price of basic necessities and ensure the availability of basic goods in the market.
Their other demands included resolving the issue of the cooking oil mafia and performance evaluation of ministers.
Related news: Cease debating extension of presidential term: Moeldoko
Translator: Putu Indah S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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