Campuses still uneasy after May's success<\/p>\n
By Sugito<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Exactly four months after students forced
\npresident Soeharto to step down, Jakarta's major university
\ncampuses remain just as restless, if not more than before, with
\nthe country's political and economic situation.<\/p>\n
The economy continues to deteriorate under the management of
\nPresident B.J. Habibie, with no signs of the recession bottoming
\nout. Increasing instances of riots with racial overtones in the
\nprovinces also suggest a highly fragile political situation.<\/p>\n
As students resume classes after their long break this month,
\nmany are wondering whether they should go back to the streets, or
\nwhether they should give Habibie the freedom to implement his
\nreform agenda.<\/p>\n
Sporadic student protests have been taking place in Jakarta
\nand elsewhere over the past weeks, but they have not been
\nconcerted and have been held for different causes: from calling
\nfor lower food prices and the investigation of Soeharto's
\npersonal wealth to Habibie's resignation.<\/p>\n
In May, however, they only had one cause: Soeharto's
\nresignation.<\/p>\n
Erik Husain, spokesman for the University of Indonesia's (UI)
\nstudent senate, admits that students are still divided on whether
\nor not to give Habibie a chance, given that the legitimacy of his
\npresidency is debatable.<\/p>\n
He, however, says that if people view Habibie as a
\ntransitional president, then he must be given an opportunity.<\/p>\n
But students at UI are ready to go back to the streets again
\nif the situation calls for it, he says.<\/p>\n
"If Habibie's administration is insensitive to the people's
\nplight, students are ready to exercise their role to control the
\ngovernment," says the fourth-year chemistry student.<\/p>\n
A bastion of student politics in the 1960s and 1970s, the
\nstate-run UI is now regarded as "conservative" when it comes to
\nstudent protests. UI students were among the last to join the
\nanti-Soeharto demonstrations this year, but when they did, they
\nmade a devastating impact.<\/p>\n
"Rather than mobilizing students, we are consolidating
\ninternally, setting up action teams and their agendas," Erik
\nsays, adding that all these activities are being coordinated by
\nthe UI's Forum of Communication of Students Senates.<\/p>\n
Students cannot ignore the impact they would have on people's
\nlives if they took to the streets again, he says.<\/p>\n
He criticizes Forkot, a loose forum of student groups from
\ndozens of colleges in Jakarta, for their protests in recent weeks
\nwhich he said has caused prices of basic foodstuffs to increase.<\/p>\n
UI is not part of the forum.<\/p>\n
Widi Wahyu Widodo, a political science student at Nasional
\nUniversity (Unas), says students are now still working to forge a
\ncommon perception about their next moves.<\/p>\n
"I feel we're still united," says Widi, who is a member of the
\nUnas student representatives board.<\/p>\n
He says there is a lot of discontent on campus about the
\ncurrent government. "He (Habibie) has not shown any real change
\nfor the better. In fact, his administration and policies are not
\nall that different from the old regime."<\/p>\n
"I personally feel Habibie should step down, allow national
\nreconciliation to take place and let the people elect their
\nleaders," Widi says.<\/p>\n
He rejects Habibie's recent proposal for the government to
\nhold dialogs with students. "We had a traumatic experience in our
\nlast dialog with the government. They just didn't care. That's
\nwhy we decided to take to the streets."<\/p>\n
Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto led a highly publicized
\ngovernment dialog with students in April, a month before
\nSoeharto's resignation. It turned into a one-way monologue
\ndominated by government officials defending Soeharto and his
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
Joni Haryanto of Tarumanegara University feels the time is
\nripe for students to stage peaceful protests, given that Habibie
\nhas failed to live up to the demands of his office.<\/p>\n
"I appeal to students from other colleges to join us," says
\nthe head of the university's student senate for the School of
\nEconomics.<\/p>\n
Rowlan Takaya, head of the student representatives body at
\nTrisakti University, feels that it is time for Habibie to go and
\nlet someone else lead the country.<\/p>\n
Besides lacking in constitutional legitimacy, Habibie has
\nperformed poorly in politics and security matters, he says.<\/p>\n
Rowlan, an economics student, believes that once student
\nprotest begin again, they would snowball to huge proportions.
\n"Protests usually begin independently on campuses, and they grow
\ninto one big movement later depending on the situation," he says.<\/p>\n
Trisakti, a privately-run university, claims the title of
\n"reform campus" after four of its students were killed when
\nsoldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstration on May 12.<\/p>\n
The shooting proved to be a major the turning point in the
\nstudent movement -- nine days later Soeharto resigned.<\/p>\n
While victorious in bringing Soeharto down, most students feel
\ntheir struggle for "total reform" is far from over.<\/p>\n
They also realize that there are various avenues available to
\nthem to contribute to the betterment of the country.<\/p>\n
"Trisakti students have launched a study to find out about the
\nsituation throughout the country and the needs of the people,"
\nRowlan said, describing the program as a "reform safari".<\/p>",
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