Thousands demand Gus Dur resign<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): No bullets or tear gas were fired when more than
\n10,000 protesters, mostly students, besieged Merdeka Palace on
\nMonday, intensifying the pressure on President Abdurrahman Wahid
\nto resign.<\/p>\n
Rallies against the President also took place in several towns
\nacross the country, but the students' call for a national strike
\ndid not materialize.<\/p>\n
The demonstration, which began peacefully, was marred by
\nviolence when a group of students attacked Atma Jaya University
\ncampus on their way to the House of Representatives after dusk. A
\ncar was set ablaze and at least 10 other cars and six motorcycles
\nwere damaged during the violence.<\/p>\n
Although there was no official report of injuries, several
\npeople, including a Jawa Pos photographer, were beaten according
\nto witnesses.<\/p>\n
Chanting anti-Abdurrahman statements around the tightly-
\nguarded palace, the protesters, who started gathering at around
\n10 a.m., handed out leaflets calling for a national strike and
\nthe President's resignation.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman was presiding over a Cabinet meeting when the
\nrally took place.<\/p>\n
The rally blocked traffic trying to access the palace, while
\nthe city's main thoroughfares were almost brought to a total
\nstandstill.<\/p>\n
Against the odds, a tiny group of people, including Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU) youth wing Ansor activists, held a prayer in support
\nof the President, who chaired the country's largest Muslim
\norganization for 15 years before being elected as president in
\nOctober 1999.<\/p>\n
The deployment of 3,000 police and military troops and the
\ndeployment of barbed wire barricades at the palace did little to
\nseparate both pro and anti-Abdurrahman supporters and deter them
\nfrom throwing rocks at each other.<\/p>\n
Tense moments passed after members of both camps formed a
\nhuman barricade to avoid further provocation.<\/p>\n
City Military Commander Maj. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, who stood
\nguard at the scene, said that there were several damaging rumors
\ncirculating in the masses.<\/p>\n
"I am here ... to help police secure this place," Bibit said
\nwithout specifying the rumors.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman was also seen
\nat the scene.<\/p>\n
Expressing their immense dislike for the President, popularly
\nknown as Gus Dur, members of the Student Executive Body (BEM)
\nrepresenting various universities in Java and Sumatra also
\ndemanded that the former ruling party Golkar be disbanded.<\/p>\n
"Don't you know that Gus Dur is the best student of former
\npresident Soeharto?" one BEM protester said.<\/p>\n
Three student representatives were finally given an audience
\nwith Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin Lopa;
\nCoordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono; Minister of National Education Yahya
\nMuhaimin; and Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy
\nSurjadi Soedirdja.<\/p>\n
The students were Taufik Riyadi, who chairs BEM at the state
\nUniversity of Indonesia, and his counterparts at the state
\nBandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and private Trisakti
\nUniversity, Sigit Prasetyo and Andre Rosiade respectively.<\/p>\n
Andre told The Jakarta Post that during the 30-minute meeting,
\nthe student leaders demanded that Gus Dur resign and his Cabinet
\nbe dissolved.<\/p>\n
"The ministers promised us that they would convey our demands
\nto the President. We demanded that the ministers leave the
\nCabinet and join us instead," a dejected Andre said.<\/p>\n
"They refused without any clear explanation, except that all
\nthings should be done constitutionally."<\/p>\n
Apart from BEM activists, the protesters included Muhammadiyah
\nUnited Students Front (Kammu), labor groups Gaspermindo and the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Muslim Workers (PPMI), and members of
\nthe Ka'abah Youth Movement (GPK), all demanding that Gus Dur
\nresign.<\/p>\n
The masses traded verbal insults with Gus Dur supporters, who
\nincluded students from Bung Karno University and the State
\nIslamic Institute (IAIN).<\/p>\n
The demonstration kept the President and ministers in the Bina
\nGraha presidential office compound, until they secretly departed
\nafter most of the students dispersed.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais led a
\ngroup of legislative leaders from all factions, who joined the
\nrally after a group of students fetched them, except those of the
\nNational Awakening Party and Indonesian Military and National
\nPolice.<\/p>\n
Amien, who spoke from his bus, told the students that the MPR
\ncould no longer tolerate Abdurrahman remaining in office and
\nwould consider an accelerated process to impeach the President
\nover his failure to uphold the reform agenda.<\/p>\n
Joining Amien were Sutjipto, MPR deputy speaker from the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle; Fachmi Idris, secretary
\nof the Golkar faction at the Assembly; Syamsul Muarif, chairman
\nof the Golkar faction at the House; Ali Marwan Hanan, chairman of
\nthe United Development Party (PPP) faction; Hatta Radjasa,
\nchairman of the reform faction; and Fuad Bawazier, a regional
\nlegislature representative.<\/p>\n
The clash at Atma Jaya University was reportedly sparked by
\nrumors that a BEM activist from UI was abducted while passing the
\ncampus, which is situated near the Semanggi cloverleaf. But an
\nAtma Jaya student, Dony, said a group of protesters provoked the
\nbrawl with statements criticizing Atma Jaya's absence from the
\nrally.<\/p>\n
Some 500 students were allowed to rest at the House compound,
\nwhere 50 of them held talks with Amien at around 9 p.m.<\/p>\n
With more anti-Abdurrahman rallies almost certain to take
\nplace, Ansor Youth secretary-general Abdul Naim Salim said there
\nwould be no single force that could prevent the organization's
\nmembers from streaming into the capital to protect Gus Dur.<\/p>\n
"If the situation is unchanged, we cannot guarantee that Ansor
\nmembers will not flock to Jakarta. But they will only come as
\nindividuals," Naim told The Jakarta Post. (ylt\/dja\/01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousands-demand-gus-dur-resign-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}