Campuses still uneasy after May's success

By Sugito

JAKARTA (JP): Exactly four months after students forced president Soeharto to step down, Jakarta's major university campuses remain just as restless, if not more than before, with the country's political and economic situation.

The economy continues to deteriorate under the management of President B.J. Habibie, with no signs of the recession bottoming out. Increasing instances of riots with racial overtones in the provinces also suggest a highly fragile political situation.

As students resume classes after their long break this month, many are wondering whether they should go back to the streets, or whether they should give Habibie the freedom to implement his reform agenda.

Sporadic student protests have been taking place in Jakarta and elsewhere over the past weeks, but they have not been concerted and have been held for different causes: from calling for lower food prices and the investigation of Soeharto's personal wealth to Habibie's resignation.

In May, however, they only had one cause: Soeharto's resignation.

Erik Husain, spokesman for the University of Indonesia's (UI) student senate, admits that students are still divided on whether or not to give Habibie a chance, given that the legitimacy of his presidency is debatable.

He, however, says that if people view Habibie as a transitional president, then he must be given an opportunity.

But students at UI are ready to go back to the streets again if the situation calls for it, he says.

"If Habibie's administration is insensitive to the people's plight, students are ready to exercise their role to control the government," says the fourth-year chemistry student.

A bastion of student politics in the 1960s and 1970s, the state-run UI is now regarded as "conservative" when it comes to student protests. UI students were among the last to join the anti-Soeharto demonstrations this year, but when they did, they made a devastating impact.

"Rather than mobilizing students, we are consolidating internally, setting up action teams and their agendas," Erik says, adding that all these activities are being coordinated by the UI's Forum of Communication of Students Senates.

Students cannot ignore the impact they would have on people's lives if they took to the streets again, he says.

He criticizes Forkot, a loose forum of student groups from dozens of colleges in Jakarta, for their protests in recent weeks which he said has caused prices of basic foodstuffs to increase.

UI is not part of the forum.

Widi Wahyu Widodo, a political science student at Nasional University (Unas), says students are now still working to forge a common perception about their next moves.

"I feel we're still united," says Widi, who is a member of the Unas student representatives board.

He says there is a lot of discontent on campus about the current government. "He (Habibie) has not shown any real change for the better. In fact, his administration and policies are not all that different from the old regime."

"I personally feel Habibie should step down, allow national reconciliation to take place and let the people elect their leaders," Widi says.

He rejects Habibie's recent proposal for the government to hold dialogs with students. "We had a traumatic experience in our last dialog with the government. They just didn't care. That's why we decided to take to the streets."

Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto led a highly publicized government dialog with students in April, a month before Soeharto's resignation. It turned into a one-way monologue dominated by government officials defending Soeharto and his policies.

Joni Haryanto of Tarumanegara University feels the time is ripe for students to stage peaceful protests, given that Habibie has failed to live up to the demands of his office.

"I appeal to students from other colleges to join us," says the head of the university's student senate for the School of Economics.

Rowlan Takaya, head of the student representatives body at Trisakti University, feels that it is time for Habibie to go and let someone else lead the country.

Besides lacking in constitutional legitimacy, Habibie has performed poorly in politics and security matters, he says.

Rowlan, an economics student, believes that once student protest begin again, they would snowball to huge proportions. "Protests usually begin independently on campuses, and they grow into one big movement later depending on the situation," he says.

Trisakti, a privately-run university, claims the title of "reform campus" after four of its students were killed when soldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstration on May 12.

The shooting proved to be a major the turning point in the student movement -- nine days later Soeharto resigned.

While victorious in bringing Soeharto down, most students feel their struggle for "total reform" is far from over.

They also realize that there are various avenues available to them to contribute to the betterment of the country.

"Trisakti students have launched a study to find out about the situation throughout the country and the needs of the people," Rowlan said, describing the program as a "reform safari".