Indonesia accepts protesters' demand to cut lawmakers perks amid unrest

Jakarta, Indonesia - Indonesian political parties have agreed to revoke a number of perks and privileges for parliamentarians, Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said on Sunday, Aug. 31, in a major concession to anti-government protests that left five people dead.

Protests over what demonstrators termed excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians started on Monday. They expanded into riots on Thursday after one person - a motorcycle rideshare driver - was killed in police action at a protest site. The homes of some political party members and state installations were ransacked or set ablaze.

Prabowo, speaking at a news conference at the Presidential Palace and flanked by the leaders of various political parties, said he had ordered the military and police to take stern action against rioters and looters, warning that some of the actions were indicative of "terrorism" and "treason."

"Leaders in parliament have conveyed that they will revoke a number of parliament policies, including the size of allowances for members of parliament and a moratorium on overseas work trips," Prabowo said.

"To the police and the military, I have ordered them to take action as firm as possible against the destruction of public facilities, looting at homes of individuals and economic centres, according to the laws," he added.

The protests are the biggest test yet for Prabowo's nearly one-year-old government, which has faced little or no political opposition since taking power last October.

(Reporting Stefanno Sulaiman; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by William Mallard and Michael Perry)