CPP: Protests in Indonesia underscore people’s desire for revolutionary change

We hereby share a statement issued by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on the recent struggles occurred in Indonesia.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its solidarity with the broad masses of Indonesian workers, peasants, students, women, indigenous people and other democratic sectors who have risen in protests across the country since the last week of August against social injustice and political repression. We join the democratic forces in Indonesia and the international community in condemning the Prabowo government for its brutal suppression of protests.

The recent week-long protests represent an explosion of long pent-up anger of the people against the widespread hardships inflicted on the toiling masses of Indonesia. These protests have been fueled by acute unemployment, rising prices, low wages, landlessness, economic dislocation and dispossession and various forms of oppression and exploitation.

These protests are a powerful expression of outrage against the gross social inequality perpetuated by bureaucrat capitalists and ruling classes in Indonesia. This elite not only earns salaries several times greater than those of ordinary citizens but also shamelessly amasses profits from corruption, collusion with big business, and exploitation by foreign capitalists.

The Indonesian people’s protest actions and expressions of outrage are not only fully justified, but are absolutely necessary. Attempts to suppress these protests will only lead to greater resistance and determination among the masses.

The social conditions and political system in Indonesia starkly mirror those in the Philippines. In both countries, the majority of the people consists of peasants and workers who endure oppression and exploitation. Amid severe socioeconomic crises, the petty-bourgeois sectors, while seeking improvements in their conditions, are increasingly pushed into working class conditions.

The majority of the Indonesian and Filipino people bear the heaviest burden of an inequitable economic system, especially amid the prolonged global capitalist crisis, while the ruling reactionary classes and political elite continue to amass power and wealth.

The mass protests in Indonesia, with thousands courageously taking to the streets, and the brazen suppression of their struggles, are clear manifestations of the fundamental class contradictions inherent in the semicolonial and semifeudal system. These recent street protests are a powerful expression of the broad masses’ demand for revolutionary change.

The Party reaffirms its support and solidarity with the proletarian revolutionary forces in Indonesia as they continue to consolidate and expand their ranks ideologically, politically and organizationally. The resistance of the Indonesian people against fascism and social injustice will benefit and continue to advance under the firm and clear class leadership of the revolutionary proletariat.

Indeed, the conditions in Indonesia are ripe for waging a fierce class struggle, not only through mass protests but, more importantly, through armed resistance and people’s war. It is a matter of historical necessity for the broad masses of workers and peasants to build their own people’s army to defend the people, fight to overthrow the fascist reactionaries, and establish a genuine democratic state.

The Party calls on all oppressed and exploited people to stand in unwavering support of the Indonesian people’s fight for justice, democracy and liberation.