Clashes erupt in protests against new Indonesian jobs law

Police and demonstrators clashed in the Indonesian capital on Thursday on the third day of protests and labour strikes against a polarising new jobs law passed in Southeast Asia's largest economy earlier this week.

Police and demonstrators clashed in the Indonesian capital on Thursday on the third day of protests and labour strikes against a polarising new jobs law passed in Southeast Asia's largest economy earlier this week. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the presidential palace in central Jakarta, shouting and throwing stones. Police fired tear gas and water cannon in an attempt to disperse the crowd, Reuters witnesses said.

The "omnibus" jobs creation bill, passed into law on Monday, has seen thousands of people across the world's fourth-most populous nation take to the streets in protest against legislation they say undermines labor rights and weakens environmental protections. "We ask that the law be repealed immediately," Maulana Syarif, 45, who has worked at Astra Honda motors for 25 years, told Reuters in Jakarta.

"This is our struggle for our children and grandchildren and our future generations... If it's like this our well-being will decrease, and we will lack job certainty." In the past two days, 800 people have been detained in the capital, Jakarta police spokesperson Yusri Yunus told Reuters.

At least two students that joined the demonstrations have been hospitalized with head injuries, and six police officers injured. "I feel a responsibility to the Indonesian people," said another demonstrator, IT student Arawinda Kartika, as she marched toward the palace. "I feel sorry for laborers working day and night without sufficient wages or power."

On Thursday, protests occurred in almost a dozen cities across the country. Television channels showed demonstrations, including in remote areas such as North Maluku, where people carried coffins and held mock funerals to mark the "death" of parliament. Black smoke rose across the capital on Thursday afternoon as protesters burned public transport facilities and damaged police posts, and low-level clashes between police and demonstrators continued. The operator of Jakarta's MRT rail network said underground 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, the head of Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board, appealed to young people to trust the government's intent for the law, which is to create jobs.

"Please be assured this law is to create jobs for the unemployed Indonesian people," he said. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)