TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chants calling Indonesian Prabowo Subianto 'cowardly' echo during the 'Weekend Melawan' (Weekend of Struggle) protest in front of the parliamentary complex in Jakarta.
Al Araf, speaker at the 'Weekend Melawan' protest, said the chants were triggered by the head of state's apathetic stance against the US and Israel's joint unprovoked strikes across Iranian territory.
"When there is a form of international law and constitutional violation, the first person to take a stance must be the president. Unfortunately, that was not the case here," said Al Araf after his speech on Friday, March 6, 2026.
As a president, he said, Prabowo ought to have the courage to declare a stance against imperialism and colonization committed by great powers.
He said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran last weekend constituted a form of colonization, one that Prabowo responded to impassively. On the other hand, political leaders like former VP Jusuf Kalla and former President Megawati Soekarnoputri dared to condemn the attack.
Al Araf suspected that Indonesia's Board of Peace membership was behind Prabowo's blasé attitude towards the war. US President Donald Trump is the chair as well as the initiator of what is touted as a forum to realize peace.
"That is what has fastened Prabowo to Trump," said the board chair of the Centra Initiative.
Hence, the 'Weekend Melawan' coalition called for Prabowo to withdraw Indonesia's membership status from the Board of Peace.
Al Araf explained that the exit would be far from weakening Indonesia's efforts and legitimacy to promote global peace. Indonesia, he said, can continue to strive for peace through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the UN Security Council.
"So, if anyone says that withdrawing from the Board of Peace will reduce Indonesia to a mere spectator, I can affirm that it's fallacious," said the Defense and Security Studies Lecturer at Brawijaya University.
The demand for Indonesia's exit from the Board of Peace was previously conveyed by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), universities, academics, and students.
MUI deemed the Board of Peace ineffective in realizing true independence in Palestine, an assessment emboldened by Trump's joint attack with Israel on Iranian territory.
Read: Civil Society Coalition Urges Indonesia to Exit Board of Peace
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