Pro-govt rallies continue in Java

JAKARTA (JP): The wave of support for President Abdurrahman Wahid continued in Central Java on Tuesday with demands that the President remain in office until 2004 and that the Golkar Party be dissolved.

In Semarang, Central Java, around 1,000 supporters of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid expressed their wish on Tuesday that the President and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri remain in office until 2004.

The demonstrators, grouped under the Red and White Undercurrent Alliance of Magelang, also demanded that Golkar be dissolved and that People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais and House of Representative speaker Akbar Tandjung quit.

They also urged the President to speed up the reform agenda of the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).

In the town of Brebes, some 5,000 people rallied in support of Abdurrahman crowding the regency legislative council building before marching around the town.

They urged that Abdurrahman disband Golkar, "or members of Golkar in the House would continue their maneuvers to rock the government."

In Surakarta some 50 students took to the streets urging the political elite to unite to save the "ship of Indonesia from sinking".

In Yogyakarta, protesters calling themselves the People's Struggle Committee for Total Reform (KPRRT) staged a rally here on Tuesday demanding total reform in the country, including the disbandment of the Golkar Party and confiscation of former president Soeharto's wealth.

The 250 protesters converged in front of Golkar Party's office on Jl. Jendral Sudirman, including university students, street singers, and street children.

At noon, the protesters sealed Golkar's faction room of the council's building as a symbol of their struggle against the New Order and dispersed peacefully minutes later.

Last week protesters sealed the Yogyakarta Golkar provincial office.

In the Bali capital of Denpasar protesters from the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) staged a peaceful protest on Tuesday, demanding the legislative body truly work on reform instead of "maneuvering to topple Abdurrahman".

The group marched to the provincial council building from Udayana University on Jl. Sudirman at around 9 a.m. "Those attempting to topple Gus Dur were being engineered and financed by the New Order regime," the protesters shouted.

Suspects

Meanwhile, in Jakarta some 40 ulemas, students and activists from East Java met the National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro on Tuesday, denying their involvement in the burning of the provincial office of Golkar Party in Surabaya.

"We came here for clarification. Many of us saw that the fire started at the backyard of the office before the masses entered the office," chairman of the East Java delegation Sunarto A.S. told reporters after the closed-door meeting at the National Police headquarters.

Bimantoro welcomed the information saying police would investigate the possible causes of the riots.

He said 14 people had been detained over the torching of Golkar Party offices in East Java.

Also in Jakarta, Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin called on Tuesday for all students from elementary to high school not to join demonstrations to avoid interference in their studies.

"I think it's cruel to exploit students like that," Yahya said on the sidelines of a session with Commission VI of the House of Representatives (DPR).

"Senior university students, however, are more mature and able to make a decision on their own. As long as they do not resort to violence or anarchy, I think critical thought about national issues is important," Yahya told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile Gus Dur, Megawati, Amien and Akbar failed to appear in a meeting organized by student' organizations, including GMNI (Indonesian National Students Movement), PMKRI (Catholic Students Association), HMI (Indonesian Islamic Students Association), GMKI (Indonesian Christian Students Movement) and Indonesian Islamic Students Association (PMII) at the Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday evening.

Only Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Minister of Defense Mahfud MD arrived in the forum where the political leaders were supposed to meet.

Responding to reporters' questions on the absence of the four leaders, Nurcholish said that meeting of minds might be better than a physical meeting. "Such a meeting may make the four understand each other more."

While Minister Mahfud said that the four may have failed to appear because of their own political reasons. "The fate of the country does not depend on such a meeting."

Before the meeting, Amien had told reporters that he would not attend, while Akbar had said that he would attend his party's meeting. (team)