Jakarta's Plaza de Mayo
Doubtful as it may be that Jakarta's growing numbers of angry young people will readily obey the ban which the city's metropolitan police chief, Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman, issued on Sunday on holding public rallies at and around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, there is little reason to mistrust the good intentions that apparently underlie the decision.
As if to prevent any hasty protests over the order, the police chief made it clear that the ban was issued not at the request or instigation of any particular party for whatever hidden purpose, but that it was intended merely to prevent the huge traffic snarls that always accompany big public rallies in Jakarta's city center.
Furthermore, the ban also intends to avoid clashes from occurring between rival political or other interest groups that could upset the smooth and peaceful procedure of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session currently taking place at Senayan, only a few kilometers to the south. The ban would be lifted as soon as the MPR session has ended, Maj. Gen. Noegroho said. To further placate possible critics, the general made it clear that public rallies could still be held elsewhere in the city, "such as around the Proclamation Monument or Blok S," which are further removed from the city's central business district.
Gen. Noegroho's offer of alternate sites for holding public rallies and his promise that the ban will be lifted as soon as the present MPR General Session is over deserves to be appreciated. At the very least it shows that the police chief understands the fact that public protests are as much a legitimate part of the democratic process as the MPR General Session itself, where some elected and nonelected representatives of the people seem at present to be having some difficulty getting acquainted with the workings of democracy.
The reason why students and other disenchanted members of our society are taking their grievances and aspirations to the streets must of course be obvious to everyone. Only a strong concern that legislators who are presumed to serve and represent them are oblivious to their rightful ambitions -- or worse, are betraying them by playing self-serving political games -- can motivate people to take their protest to the streets, braving tear gas and rubber bullets and risking life and limb.
Young protesters, by their courageous if often reckless actions, are serving their society no less well, and often better, than those esteemed elected representatives in the House of Representatives (DPR) and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The duty of the police is to give those street protesters the safeguards and protection they deserve as citizens, even while seeing to it that their protest actions do not seriously disturb public order.
Over the past months, the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta has become the most popular venue for mass protests and other public rallies. It is Jakarta's answer to London's Hyde Park or Rio de Janeiro's Plaza de Mayo. Since the most fundamental objective of protests is to be seen and heard, Jakartans can expect to see protests and rallies to move to other strategic spots in the city center in the few days that are left before the MPR winds up its session.
To forestall this, the authorities could take the proactive measure of providing preappointed strategic venues not too far away from the present preferred protest sites for the airing of public views. In any case, it is important for the growth of democracy in this country that Indonesians, whichever side of the argument they stand on, learn to view protests not as mere public nuisances, but as a legitimate and constitutional part of democracy that deserves to be treated as such.