ITB students, teachers want succession

BANDUNG (JP): Most Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) students and lecturers said in a recent poll they wished to see a new president soon.

Students said they favored Moslem leader Amien Rais as the next president, while lecturers said they would prefer Vice President Try Sutrisno to succeed.

Poll organizer Ardi P. Utama of the college's Ganesha magazine said here yesterday that 800 questionnaires were distributed and 645 were returned. Five hundred and fifty-five of ITB's 8,000 students responded to the poll along with 95 lecturers.

Ardi said 93 percent of the students wanted state leadership succession. In addition, 95 percent of the students and 84 percent of the teachers said they had no confidence in the efforts the government was making to restore the economy.

Ardi also said that 24 percent of the students and 18 percent of the teachers wanted political reform in order to overcome the current crisis which they believed was caused by shortcomings in the administration (45 percent of students, 25 percent of teachers).

Eighteen percent of the surveyed students and 34 percent of teachers also blamed poor supervision for the crisis.

Preferred leaders for both groups were toppled leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri, Moslem leaders Amien Rais and Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Try Sutrisno and State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.

Student activists from other universities such as Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta have organized similar polls in the past few years, which Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro once criticized as lacking scientific rigor.

Separately, ITB Rector Lilik Hendrajaya commented on statements of concern over the current crisis issued by alumni.

He said the former students who did so were acting in their private capacities and their statements did not by any means represent the views of the college.

Two different groups of alumni issued statements Tuesday on the crisis; one group said it did not want President Soeharto to be reelected for another term, while the other offered suggestions of ways of dealing with the crisis. (23)