Political interests undermine student movement: Experts

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.