Makassar students seek meeting with Amien, Akbar

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): The provincial legislature here invited on Tuesday People's Consultative Assembly Speaker (MPR) Amien Rais and House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung for a dialog with students.

The invitation was conveyed at the request of students, who have been rallying for the past two weeks for an independent state in Sulawesi.

"We will invite Amien Rais and Akbar Tandjung to meet face to face with the students," Burhanuddin Ali said before banging the gavel to close the noisy session he presided over on Tuesday.

The session, which lasted five hours, saw arguments traded between the provincial legislators and invitees, who included community leaders, the chief of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi Maj. Gen. Suaidy Marasabessy and student representatives.

The students pushed for a hearing with Amien and Akbar because they felt their protests did not receive a proper response from Jakarta. They also threatened to walk out if their proposal was left unheeded.

"The (provincial) legislators are very slow in channeling our aspirations. That is why we don't trust them anymore," Amiluddin, a student from the Indonesian Muslim University, told The Jakarta Post after the session.

"We also demand the MPR/DPR form a special team to deliberate on our demands for independence," he said.

The students said they were annoyed by allegations that their movement was sponsored by a caucus of Golkar Party's eastern Indonesia chapters widely known as Iramasuka.

"We're not affiliated to such a group. This is our pure struggle. If Jakarta does not take us seriously, we will continue our street rallies with more people," Amiluddin said.

A wave of protests hit the city, following the MPR's rejection of former president B.J. Habibie's accountability speech, which virtually ended his hopes for reelection.

South Sulawesi is Habibie's traditional political stronghold. His hometown of Parepare is 230 kilometers north of here. (27/edt)