Campuses still uneasy after May's success

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".