Academia
From raging wildfires to simmering revolts in the regions, a hyper-centralized Jakarta is driving the country toward a dangerous breaking point that harks back to past policy failures.
A group of ‘ojol’ (online motorcycle transportation drivers) distributes boxes of supplies donated by the public at a drop-off point outside the Senalayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta on Aug. 25, 2026, ahead of a planned protest on Aug. 27. (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
From bungled emergency operations during a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara to raging forest fires across Kalimantan, Sumatra and East Java’s Mount Bromo, the country faces a cascade of overlapping crises. Paired with escalating discontent in Aceh, mounting friction in Papua and grassroots protests in Jakarta by residents of Pati, Central Java, these events point to a deeper structural rot in state governance.These flash points arrived in rapid succession.
On Aug. 11, an enraged crowd burned and vandalized at least 13 buildings in the Puncak regency administrative complex in Ilaga, Central Papua. The unrest erupted after central fiscal tightening under Finance Minister Regulation No. 7/2026, which slashed the 2026 Village Fund allocation from Rp 300-400 million (US$170,000-$22,800) to Rp 100-130 million per village, provoking outrage among hundreds of residents and village heads.
