Students to maintain opposition role<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): University students vowed to continue with their
\nstreet demonstrations in the absence of any opposition political
\nparties to control the newly established government.<\/p>\n
\"No political parties have declared that they truly want to be
\nthe opposition,\" Bachtiar Firdaus, chairman of the Executive
\nStudent Body of the University of Indonesia (BEM-UI), told The
\nJakarta Post on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He welcomed the newly elected Abdurrahman Wahid-Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri team, saying that they truly represent the
\nIndonesia people.<\/p>\n
But he suggested that a strong opposition was needed to
\npressure the ruling collective government to always uphold
\ndemocratic principles and the supremacy of the law and the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"It is disturbing. There should be opposition camps which can
\ncritically apply pressure on the new government so that it will
\nnever become like the regime we had in the past, the New Order.<\/p>\n
\"We will therefore declare ourselves to be an opposition force
\nin the country,\" Bactiar said.<\/p>\n
The elected president and vice president both have broad-based
\nsupport from the grassroots and the political elite; a strong
\ncomposition which could lead to an oligarchic government.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman is chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the
\nlargest Muslim organization in the country, with 30 million
\nmembers. While Megawati is the chairwoman of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), a party which
\ngarnered the most votes (approximately 35 million) in the June 2
\ngeneral election.<\/p>\n
Bachtiar said the students would closely observe the
\ngovernment's activities and policies, and continue to pressure
\nthe government so that \"it will not betray the reform movement
\nthat the whole nation has agreed to participate in\".<\/p>\n
No more mistakes<\/p>\n
Another student activist, identified only as Mixil, shared
\nBachtiar's opinion, saying that students should not repeat the
\nmistakes of the 1966 Student Movement (Angkatan 66) which failed
\nto control the former president Soeharto's regime.<\/p>\n
\"The Angkatan 1966 students failed to control Soeharto during
\nthe critical 1966-1970 period.<\/p>\n
\"It was too late for them to put pressure on him (Soeharto)
\nbecause Soeharto's position became stronger after 1971, as he had
\nsince then turned out to be a dictator,\" said Mixil, an activist
\nof Forum Kota (City Forum), a loose alliance of 30 Jakarta
\nprivate university student organizations.<\/p>\n
Student activists of the Angkatan 66 helped the Army topple
\nthe Old Order regime under first president Sukarno and promote
\nArmy leader, the then Maj. Gen. Soeharto, to prominence in 1966.
\nSoeharto was inaugurated as president replacing Sukarno in a
\nSpecial session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPRS), led by Army Gen. (ret) Abdul Harris Nasution.<\/p>\n
Several Angkatan 1966 leaders were then absorbed into
\nSoeharto's Cabinet line up, including the new House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung and former state
\nminister of public housing Cosmas Batubara.<\/p>\n
Mixil said students would return to the streets if the new
\ngovernment ignored the people's will.<\/p>\n
\"We respect Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) and Mega (Megawati
\nSukarnoputri). But if they make mistakes -- such as establishing
\na new Cabinet which still accommodates elements of the New Order
\n-- we will stage protests on the streets,\" said Mixil.<\/p>\n
Anton, a Forbes (Collective Forum) student activist, suggested
\nhowever that street protests against the State leadership team
\nwould only trigger clashes between supporters of both Abdurrahman
\nand Megawati.<\/p>\n
\"Gus Dur has broad support from the Islamic community, while
\nMega is strongly backed by nationalists.<\/p>\n
\"If we stage street protests, we'll probably have to deal with
\nsupporters of both,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But Bachtiar disagreed saying that students should eliminate
\nsuch fundamentalist sentiments form their movement.<\/p>\n
\"Once the government makes a mistake, we should stage protests
\nregardless of ideology or religion,\" Bachtiar said.(asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-to-maintain-opposition-role-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}