BEM UI Highlights KKN and the TNI's Dual Function in '#ReforMATI' Action
UI’s Student Executive Board (BEM UI) staged a rally titled ‘#ReforMATI’ alongside the Kamisan action at the Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, on Thursday, 21 May 2026. The chairperson of BEM UI, Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan, said they were marking the 28th anniversary of the fall of the New Order regime together with several campuses and civil society organisations.
The action is expected to spark a firm stance among students that the grand reform aspirations of the 1998 Reform movement have been buried by the lust for power, in the Manifesto ‘#ReforMATI’ carried today, Athof, as he is known, said when asked for confirmation.
In addition to BEM UI, other organisations taking part in the symbolic ‘#ReforMATI’ action included BEM Trisakti, BEM FH UPNVJ, Liga Mahasiswa untuk Demokrasi (LMID), Front Mahasiswa Nasional (FMN), Karya Latihan Bantuan Hukum (KALABAHU LBH Jakarta), Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia (GMNI), AMP, KOMPAK, MUDA, and Kawan Perempuan, as well as several civil society groups.
On the occasion, Athof said BEM UI highlighted several crucial points in the action. First, about the law as a tool of power. ‘The law has been bent to such an extent that its function has shifted to a shield for the rulers while also being a sword that strikes the common people,’ he said.
Second, the normalisation of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN). He said KKN has been normalised, institutionalised, and even passed down through every layer of government.
Third, the revival of the TNI’s dual function, where military and police personnel are quietly placed in every strategic position in ministries and agencies. ‘Coupled with the expansion of authority through several flawed pieces of legislation,’ Athof fumed.
Fourth, impunity and erasure of history. He said the state is deliberately maintaining a lack of justice and engaging in cowardly efforts to erase history to avoid accountability for trying to prosecute.
Lastly, the withdrawal of regional autonomy. As decentralisation promises were discarded with transfers and distribution of funds to regions that are unresponsive, he explained.
‘We declare that the Reformasi era, the era that promised democracy and actions that followed, has ended.’