Student protests continue over prices and reforms<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of students again called on the
\ngovernment to lower the prices of daily essentials and accelerate
\npolitical and economic reforms as a series of rallies in Java and
\nSulawesi continued yesterday.<\/p>\n
Unlike over the past two weeks, more than 2,000 students in
\nthe South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang left their colleagues
\nin Java behind by marching on the streets in an attempt to force
\nthe authorities to meet their demands.<\/p>\n
As in previous rallies, all the student demonstrations
\nyesterday, including those staged on campuses in Yogyakarta,
\nJakarta, Bogor, Semarang and Kudus, ended peacefully as large
\ncontingents of police and military troops watched closely.<\/p>\n
The students of Ujungpandang's Parangtambung Teachers Training
\nInstitute marched three kilometers downtown to join fellow
\nstudents of the Gunungsari Teachers Training Institute who were
\nstaging a protest at their campus.<\/p>\n
Waving banners and posters and chanting patriotic songs along
\nthe way, the students called on the government to lower prices of
\nbasic foodstuffs and speed up reforms.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of fully-armed security personnel followed the
\nstudents on the march which caused traffic congestion for hours
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
During a free speech forum held later at the Gunungsari
\ncampus, the students called on the government to eliminate
\n\"corruption, collusion and nepotism\" which they claimed had
\ndragged the country's economy down to its lowest ebb.<\/p>\n
Four military trucks transported the Parangtambung students
\nback to their campus after they aired their message.<\/p>\n
Some 100 students of several local universities grouped in the
\nIndonesia's Makassar Students Forum also staged a separate
\ndemonstration in Ujungpandang yesterday at the provincial council
\noffice.<\/p>\n
In a statement passed to the council's deputy speaker, Kallo
\nBandaso, the students charged that the people's representatives
\nhad \"lost touch with most common people\".<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian people have lost faith in the country's
\nadministrators who have manipulated their rights. The fact is
\nthere have been inconsistencies between what's been said and
\ndone.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, the forum is calling for a change or reform in
\nevery sector,\" they said in their statement.<\/p>\n
The students also dispersed peacefully after the rally.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the students' move, legislator Kallo Bandaso
\nsaid: \"I salute them, because they have demonstrated in peace
\nwhile causing no disturbances during their demonstrations.\"<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, over 3,000 Gadjah Mada University students
\nrallied at their campus, shouting rough words against the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The students marched on the campus grounds throughout the
\nmorning, waving banners and making reform and price decrease
\ndemands before assembling to hear speeches by their leaders.<\/p>\n
The protesters also demanded political reforms and a limit on
\npresidential terms.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, hundreds of students -- dominated by scarf-wearing
\nfemale students -- of the state-run Syahid Hidayatullah Islamic
\nInstitute also aired their protests through free speech forums
\nand rallies conducted at their university campus.<\/p>\n
They called for the country's decision makers to lower prices
\nof basic daily essentials, eliminate corruption, collusion and
\nnepotism, and dutifully exercise the people's mandate.<\/p>\n
In Bogor, West Java, hundreds of students of the Bogor's
\nInstitute of Agriculture, and in Semarang, Central Java, hundreds
\nof state-run Walisongo Islamic Institute students also staged
\nsimilar demonstrations.<\/p>\n
Dozens of students of Murian University in Kudus, Central
\nJava, together with one of their lecturers, met with local
\ncouncil members to channel their concerns over the crisis to the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"No matter what the system will be to solve the current
\nmonetary crisis, be it through a CBS (currency board system) or
\nother measures, the government must be quick to decide, because
\nthe situation is critical and worrisome,\" they told local
\nlegislators.<\/p>\n
Students in mainly Java and Sulawesi have held a series of
\nrallies and media statements as the country's highest policy
\nmaking body, the People's Consultative Assembly, holds its 11-day
\nGeneral Session which began Sunday. (23\/30\/24\/oby\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/student-protests-continue-over-prices-and-reforms-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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