Political interests undermine student movement: Experts
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite staging street rallies almost every day, the current student protests against the government are insignificant mainly due to the different political interests they represent, experts say.
Former minister of education Juwono Sudarsono told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that too many different political groups were financing student rallies, making it almost impossible for them to unite.
"The rallies represent the goals of different political groups, as they become the tool to express the rivalry among the political elite," Juwono said.
He, however, admitted that it was difficult to pinpoint the political parties financing the student rallies.
University students have staged street rallies almost every day since the government announced on Jan. 1 increases in electricity and telephone rates as well as fuel prices.
What started as utility price hike protests developed into antigovernment rallies demanding the resignation of both President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.
The government, apparently incensed by daily protests, accused certain parties of co-opting the students to advance their own political agenda.
While acknowleging that they were seeking a change in government, student activists denied that they were being used by any political parties, and insisted that they were fighting for the welfare of the people at large.
"BEM (Student Executive Council) is an independent organization," Gadjah Mada University BEM chairman Arief Fibri told the Post on Saturday.
He said his organization earned money by organizing certain activities, aside from receiving a subsidy from the university.
"Anyone can see the number of students participating in the rallies. We are the voice of the people, but we still need people to participate to make the government meet our demands," said Rico Marbun from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.
Compared to the student protests of 1998, which led to the downfall of dictator Soeharto, who ruled the country for more than three decades, this year's student protests are relatively small and sporadic.
Public support for protesting students also fell after the government bowed to public pressure and rolled back the prices of electricity, telephone calls and fuel.
Juwono warned that competition among political parties ahead of the 2004 general election would further undermine student rallies.
The absence of a common enemy has also weakened rallies, he said.
The former minister also said that another big difference of the present student rallies was that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police no longer played any role in the protests.
Another analyst, Arbi Sanit, concurred with Juwono, saying that the time had come for the students to distance themselves from the political interests of certain groups.
Arbi Sanit said that utility price hikes could have served as momentum to revive the student movement.
However, he said that it would take time for students to become independent once again.