Students mourn death of reform movement<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Unlike other historical days, the fourth year of the reform
\nmovement was observed in a bitter mood on Tuesday, with students
\nnationwide taking to the streets to vent their disappointment
\nwith the political elite's failure to comply with the reform
\nagenda.<\/p>\n
The demands aired during the rallies varied, ranging from
\nlegal measures against former president Soeharto and his corrupt
\ncronies to the resignation of President Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
The demonstration near Jl. Cendana in Menteng, where Soeharto
\nand his family live, turned ugly as the protesters from the City
\nNetwork (Jarkot) clashed with police who blocked their access to
\nthe house of the former dictator.<\/p>\n
No casualties were reported, but some of the students were
\ninjured and got all wet as the police beat, grabbed and threw
\nthem into a water fountain in the traffic circle nearby.<\/p>\n
A larger group of students from various universities across
\nJava marched to the State Palace, demanding the government to
\nlower prices of fuel and other basic commodities, as well as
\nelectricity, telephone and transportation rates.<\/p>\n
They also urged the government to eradicate corruption,
\ncollusion and nepotism, to bring human rights violators to court
\nand to reject foreign loans.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators, carrying with them floral bouquets usually
\nreserved for funerals, unfurled posters that read: \"Mourning the
\ndeath of the reform movement\" and \"Revolution Now\".<\/p>\n
They waved pictures of President Megawati and Vice President
\nHamzah Haz crossed out with red paint.<\/p>\n
The students could not meet Megawati as she was in Bali, where
\nsome 150 people staged a peaceful rally against violence
\ncommitted by the state. Hamzah was at his office on Jl. Medan
\nMerdeka Selatan when the rallies occurred.<\/p>\n
Students took the lead role in pushing for changes in the
\ncountry, which climaxed with Soeharto's resignation on May 21,
\n1998 after 32 years in power. The abduction of student activists
\nwho challenged Soeharto's rule, the shooting death of four
\nTrisakti students and mass rioting which left hundreds burned
\nalive were the prices paid for a national leadership succession.<\/p>\n
History repeated itself, as it was Soeharto who benefited from
\nstudent rallies against his predecessor and founding president
\nSukarno in 1966 so he could assume power.<\/p>\n
None of the three administrations which have followed Soeharto
\nmanaged to satisfy the people's demand for sweeping reforms. On
\nthe contrary corruption, collusion and nepotism have worsened,
\nthe legal system has been virtually unchanged and the selfish,
\nshort-term objectives pursued by politicians have all contributed
\nto the bitterness.<\/p>\n
A recent poll conducted by leading daily Kompas revealed that
\nover 80 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the state
\nof the reform movement at present.<\/p>\n
Megawati, once the darling of the oppressed and the student
\nprotesters, was one of four figures who directly benefited from
\nstudent-led reform and was chosen to take the lead in the move to
\nchallenge Soeharto. The others were former president Abdurrahman
\nWahid, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais
\nand Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.<\/p>\n
Student rallies also took place in, among other towns,
\nBandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Palu in Central Sulawesi, Makassar
\nand Pontianak in West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The protesters from the Alliance of Students for Total Reform
\nand the splinter group of the Islamic Students Association in
\nPalu burned an effigy of President Megawati with the words \"Enemy
\nof the Poor\". The rally occurred in front of the governor's
\noffice.<\/p>\n
One of the students, Temu Sutrisno, said Megawati had failed
\nto carry out reform and to bring the nation out of the economic
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore she has to be forced to step down,\" he told some
\n100 students attending the rally.<\/p>\n
Another student, Burhanuddin, shouted: \"Megawati's government
\nis not on the side of the people in accordance with the reform
\nideals. Neither is she a leader who can guide Indonesia out of
\nthe crisis.\"<\/p>\n
In Bandung, representatives of several student bodies demanded
\nthe provincial councillors to push the government to take legal
\naction against Soeharto and his cronies, and to seize their ill-
\ngotten gains to subsidize commodities for poor people.<\/p>\n
The students also expressed anger over the price hikes of
\nbasic necessities.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais joined
\nthe chorus of criticism on Tuesday, saying that despite some
\npositive achievements, the reform movement failed to show any
\nimprovement in law enforcement.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-mourn-death-of-reform-movement-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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