Peace and calm as MPR begins Annual Session

Peace and calm as MPR begins Annual Session

JAKARTA (JP): Peace and calm prevailed in the capital on
Monday as some 700 legislators gathered for the opening of the
12-day Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR).

A similar mood also prevailed in the country's other major
cities.

In Jakarta, several groups of protesters staged peaceful and
orderly rallies in separate places, allowing traffic to run
smoothly on the city's main streets.

City police spokesman Supt. Zainuri Lubis described the
situation for the initial session as "conducive".

"Life goes on as usual, either within the MPR complex or
outside it," he announced from his office on Monday evening.

But despite the favorable atmosphere, police remained on alert
for possible security threats on the session, the officer said.

"Thousands of police personnel are being deployed at several
places here, including in the MPR complex," he said, adding that
a total of 3,000 police personnel were being deployed in the
complex.

The city police have also concentrated its personnel at
strategic places in Central Jakarta at, among other places, the
Senayan area, the Semanggi cloverleaf, the National Monument
(Monas) area and at the Hotel Mulia and Hotel Hilton, where the
MPR members are staying during the session.

He said the police also put some 2,000 police personnel on
alert at the city police headquarters, ensuring they were ready
for deployment to anywhere in the city should the situation
worsen.

Several groups of protesters staged different themes of
protest in separate places in the city.

Some 50 Muslim students staged a rally at the Hotel Indonesia
traffic circle on Monday, urging the legislators and their
constituents to prevent anarchy during the session.

The students, who were from the Students Executive Board of
the state Syarif Hidayatullah Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN
Syarif Hidayatullah), unfurled banners and posters which read:
"Reject Anarchism, Safeguard the Agenda of Democracy".

Amril, a protester, said the rally was held amid fear that
anarchy would mar the session unless the legislators were able to
either emphasize the nation's interests or exercise self-
restraint.

Another 100 protesters of the National Children's Front
Against Intervention staged a protest at the entrance of the MPR
complex on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

During the protest, which was held as President Abdurrahman
Wahid was reading his progress report, demonstrators distributed
leaflets to passersby, rejecting foreign intervention over the
prolonged unrest in Maluku.

"Besides troop intervention, the government must also be
selective of the foreign aid from foreign non-governmental
organizations," Ismail, the coordinator of the demonstrators,
said.

The protest did not disrupt traffic on the city's main
thoroughfare of Jl. Gatot Subroto.

Another 30 students, who claimed to be activists from the
Concerned Students and Youths of Indonesia, also staged a rally
at the entrance gate of the MPR complex.

The group staged an art performance on the importance of
national reconciliation, featuring four people in masks who
symbolized President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, MPR Speaker Amien Rais and House of
Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung. (asa)