Students to protest if status quo persists<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A wave of student rallies will overrun the
\ncapital and major cities across the country if the status quo
\nforce is restored to power, researchers said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Muridan S. Widjojo, who coordinated a study into the pivotal
\nstudent movement in 1998, predicted that student protests would
\ntake a more radical form than that which overturned former
\npresident Soeharto last year if the status quo retains its grip.
\nHe said it would be especially dramatic if incumbent B.J. Habibie
\nwas elected president.<\/p>\n
\"Certain political situations, in which pro-status quo groups
\ncling on to power, will precipitate the student demonstrations,\"
\nsaid Muridan of the National Institute of Science.<\/p>\n
He referred to the New Order's protege Golkar Party, which
\ndespite finishing second to the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), has a good chance of winning the
\npresidential election thanks to an electoral system which favors
\nthe party.<\/p>\n
Golkar has named Habibie its sole presidential candidate, and
\nannounced on Thursday the formation of a special team to clear
\nthe way for Habibie to win his first full five-year term.<\/p>\n
Fiery student rallies demanding sweeping reforms in May last
\nyear, which climaxed with thousands of students occupying the
\nHouse of Representatives, precipitated Soeharto's resignation.
\nSome of the students then vowed to target Habibie, who took over
\nfrom his mentor Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Calling the students the anti-New Order group, Muridan said
\nhis team's research revealed that the activists had maintained
\ntheir radicalism since initiating the resistance movement against
\nthe government in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n
He said the government's harsh measures to silence the
\nstudents in the 1990s had instead encouraged their resistance
\nfight and fueled their militancy.<\/p>\n
\"The students consciously took on the risk of violent measures
\nby security personnel against them, arrests and imprisonment. The
\nmore repressive the government was, the more they believe that
\nthe regime has to be opposed,\" Muridan said.<\/p>\n
He said the study found that to some extent radical student
\nactivists considered clashes with security troops a part of their
\nstrategy.<\/p>\n
The study acknowledged the role played by the People's
\nDemocratic Party (PRD) in spreading radicalism in the recent
\nstudent movement. PRD was banned by Soeharto's government on
\ncharges of subversion following the forceful takeover of Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's PDI office on July 27, 1996.<\/p>\n
The study, conducted by seven senior researchers, concluded
\nthat moderate student movements also contributed to the country's
\nchanging of the guard last year, but has now ceased because the
\nactivists did not specifically oppose the New Order.<\/p>\n
\"These moderate students implicitly believe that the system
\nbuilt by the New Order is fine, but they came up to criticize the
\npolitical elite, whose immoral behavior had plunged the country
\ninto a crisis,\" the research paper says.<\/p>\n
Muridan said radical students were now regrouping to
\nconsolidate themselves and discuss strategies.<\/p>\n
\"They meet regularly every two or three weeks and are seeking
\njustification to come back to the streets,\" he said. He added
\nthat the nerve centers of the movement were in the country's
\nmajor towns, notably Jakarta, Purwokerto in Central Java,
\nYogyakarta and Surabaya.<\/p>\n
\"Although opposed to the June elections, the students did not
\nhold rallies against the event because they saw it would backfire
\non their movement,\" Muridan said.<\/p>\n
The rally against the polls held by PRD activists ended in
\nviolence earlier this month, and Muridan said he believed it
\nserved as an early warning to the status quo force of bigger
\nprotests in the future. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-to-protest-if-status-quo-persists-1447893297",
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