JAKARTA — Hundreds of workers rallied in support of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday amid allegations that police illegally wiretapped him, while hundreds of women marched against the president's policies, Reuters reported from the Indonesian capital.

Source: Reuters via 98.5 The River

Labour Party chairperson Said Iqbal, who led the workers' rally and is a special adviser to the president, called for unity behind Prabowo and said he would mobilise union members against those who threaten the former general's presidency. “We can mobilise members of our organisation across every town, every factory,” Said was quoted as saying by Detik News. “We are prepared to respond at any moment to maintain order should any unrest arise, whether instigated by foreign interests or by individuals seeking to cause trouble.”

Source: Reuters via 98.5 The River

Saturday's rallies are the street-level fallout of the wiretapping scandal that widened earlier this week, when investigators named a fourth senior police officer as a suspect in the alleged interception of the president's communications. Read: Indonesia names fourth senior police officer as wiretapping suspect

Indonesian police have named four senior police officials as suspects accused of attempting to intercept Prabowo's communications, including a former police chief who is known as a loyalist of former President Joko Widodo. The allegations are still at the investigation stage. The scandal has exposed deepening cracks between Prabowo and his predecessor and former backer, known as Jokowi, Reuters reported. Jokowi has said he respected the legal process, and the lawyer for one of the four suspects said his client would cooperate with the investigation.

Nine demands on the women's march

Civil society groups held the Women's March Jakarta on Saturday around nine demands spanning women's rights, economic, social, environmental and health concerns, Asia Daily reported. Participants protested against Prabowo's handling of the forest fires that have been raging for months, his costly free-meal programme and a tax on women's sanitary products, and called for protection for women workers. Singer and actor Sherina Munaf joined the march carrying a poster about the continuing forest and land fires.

Source: Asia Daily

The fires are a direct link between Saturday's march and the student protests of recent weeks. Deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas estimated that more than 1.9 million hectares had burned in the nine months through September, Asia Daily reported, citing the monitor's satellite-based assessment published on October 21. Students rallied in Jakarta and other cities last week, and Reuters noted there have been several protests against Prabowo in recent months, part of growing public discontent over his costly populist policies, the handling of the wildfires and weakening investor confidence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.