Thousands rally to mark Soeharto's resignation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of protesters staged rallies here and
\nin several major towns across the country on Monday to mark the
\nthird anniversary of former president Soeharto's resignation.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, hundreds of students grouped under the City Forum
\n(Forkot) rallied in front of the Attorney General's Office,
\ndemanding the prosecutors bring the ailing former ruler to trial
\nfor alleged corruption charges and misuse of power during his
\nalmost 32 years in office.<\/p>\n
Arriving in several mini buses, the students later staged a
\nprotest inside the compound of the House of Representatives
\nbefore they moved toward Soeharto's residence in the plush
\nMenteng district in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Another group, the Indonesian Formal Students Institution
\nAlliance (Alfonso), staged a protest in front of the Merdeka
\nPalace in Central Jakarta to demand President Abdurrahman Wahid
\nresign for his failure to uphold the people's reform mandate.<\/p>\n
The students said Abdurrahman's administration was a new form
\nof Soeharto's New Order regime.<\/p>\n
On May 21, three years ago, Soeharto relinquished the
\npresidency following a wave of massive proreform student protests
\nand nationwide violence that claimed more than 400 lives.<\/p>\n
The now 79-year-old former president has been named a suspect
\nin corruption charges.<\/p>\n
Many expected the change would pave the way for sweeping
\nreforms, which would include the trial of corrupt officials and
\nthose accused of past human rights abuse.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, violence almost marred the rally to commemorate
\nthe third anniversary of Soeharto's downfall when some 80 members
\nof Anticommunist Paramilitary Movement (Gepako) met head on with
\nstudent protesters and threatened to "cleanse" them.<\/p>\n
The protesters, representing the Anti New Order Students'
\nAlliance and National Students League for Democracy (LMND), had
\nto seek police assistance when they were leaving the Yogyakarta
\nprovincial legislature on Jl. Malioboro.<\/p>\n
Several Gepako members rushed into the complex, where
\nprotesters were meeting with local councillors. The intruders
\nbegan to intimidate the students, while many others stood by
\noutside the complex.<\/p>\n
"If you're communists, we (Gepako) will kill you," Gandung
\nPardiman, Gepako's coordinator, told the protesters, saying that
\nthe rallies had been orchestrated by communists.<\/p>\n
Separately in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, around
\n100 students aired demands that Abdurrahman, Vice President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, DPR speaker Akbar Tandjung and the
\nSpeaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais resign
\ndue to their inability to run the government and to overcome the
\nnation's myriad problems.<\/p>\n
The students staged a demonstration outside the Central Java
\nprovincial council.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang,
\nstudents from various universities, rallied outside the local
\nprovincial council building after marching through the town.<\/p>\n
The students held orations and sang patriotic songs in their
\nprotest, demanding the Golkar party be dissolved.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of youths and students from various organizations and
\nstudent groups marched through the capital of West Java, Bandung,
\nto recollect the resignation of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators distributed leaflets in which they warned of
\nthe possible return of the New Order and military to the
\npolitical stage.<\/p>\n
"We are disappointed that after three years following
\nSoeharto's downfall, there has yet to be any significant progress
\nin our country," one of the protesters, Febrianto, told
\nreporters. (har\/25\/23\/30)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousands-rally-to-mark-soehartos-resignation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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