Housewives join protests over food prices, reforms

Housewives join protests over food prices, reforms

JAKARTA (JP): Huge numbers of students in many cities were
kept up their fervent protests for lower prices and sweeping
reforms yesterday with housewives in one city helping to boost
the rallies.

In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, around 10,000 students
from 16 local universities assembled at the Sepuluh November
Institute of Technology demanding economic and political reform,
new national leadership and an end to nepotism, collusion and
corruption.

The students also marched three kilometers through kampongs,
where residents, especially housewives, joined in yelling for
affordable prices of basic essentials. Motorists also stopped and
joined the crowd.

Agung Febriyadi, one of the student protesters, said: "This
proves that masses of people are suffering. The people and the
students must unite to stand up against the corrupt."

Hundreds of security personnel kept watch on the proceedings
but kept their distance. The crowd dispersed peacefully after
several hours.

In Ujungpandang, the capital of South Sulawesi, some 16,000
students held three separate simultaneous demonstrations at
Hasanuddin University, the Indonesian Muslim University and the
Islamic Studies Institute. Protesters wearing their varsity
jackets sat in yards under the sun listening to fiery speeches
from student leaders demanding an end to corruption and
collusion.

At Hasanuddin University students demanded that Minister of
Education and Culture Wiranto Arismunandar resign for allegedly
curtailing academic freedom. A speaker also used the platform to
lash out at local officials who lived in luxury while most people
were suffering from the economic crisis.

"There are officials here who have more cars than family
members," said one student.

Some of the students tried to march off the campus but were
effectively blocked by security personnel. At all three
universities school administrators were seen mingling with the
students.

Job security

In Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, thousands of students
and alumni of the Medan Teachers Training Institute held a noisy
rally demanding not only lower prices and economic and political
reform but also job security.

In a free-speech forum, the students decried a report that the
Ministry of Education and Culture would not recruit new teachers
this year. "What are we going to do after we graduate?" one
speaker said.

A spokesman of the teachers college expressed concern over the
reported plan, pointing out that only last week the college
graduated 1,226 new teachers.

In Jakarta, activists from the Association of Moslem Students
and students of Yarsi University, and their counterparts at the
Islamic medical school held separate demonstrations. They also
marched down some streets under the watchful eyes of the
military.

In Surakarta, Central Java, some 1,500 Sebelas Maret
University students held a demonstration after Friday prayers and
were involved in a scuffle with hundreds of security personnel.
Five students were injured in the stone-throwing started by the
students. Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the crowd.

In Yogyakarta, around 100 students of the Indonesian Islamic
University held a demonstration on their campus. Student leaders
gave speeches critical of the government's development policies.

"The crisis that is affecting Indonesia now is the fruit of 30
years of development that neglected the people," one student
said.

The students also demanded a succession of the national
leadership and the formation of a new cabinet which was more
accommodating of people's aspirations. The demonstration
concluded peacefully.

In Jakarta, the military, City Police and rectors and their
assistants from several universities agreed to limit student
rallies on campuses for security reasons.

The agreement was reached after a meeting between Jakarta
Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata, Jakarta Military Commander
Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and administrators of, among
others, the University of Indonesia and the Jakarta Teachers
Training Institute.

In a media briefing following the meeting, Hamami said
students who continued to rally on the streets would be charged
under Article 510 of the Criminal Code for conducting street
rallies without the necessary police permit. The maximum penalty
is two weeks in detention.

The rally could disturb public order and create traffic jams,
he said, referring to student rallies which had spilled over onto
the streets over the past few days.

Sjafrie warned certain groups against pushing their own
agendas by exploiting the student rallies. He identified the
groups only as "Indonesia's opposition movement network."

"This network is trying to take advantage of all elements in
society who are prejudiced against the current situation," he
said, adding that the military was currently investigating the
organization. (30/23/har/nur/45/21/ivy/edt)