Makassar students seek meeting with Amien, Akbar

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)