Protest rally spoils Susilo's 56th birthday

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It might not have been the kind of birthday present that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wished for, but nonetheless hundreds of protesters, led by former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, staged a rally against his Aceh policy on Friday.

While modestly celebrating his 56th birthday with his ministers before the start of a Cabinet meeting, Gus Dur, along with a group of demonstrators held a protest outside the Presidential Palace.

The protesters demanded that Susilo revoke the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), claiming that the deal would eventually lead to independence for Aceh.

The protesters, calling themselves the National Forum of Young Indonesians (FKPI), also demanded the replacement of Susilo's economic ministers to resolve the current economic problems.

Earlier in the morning, Susilo, a retired army general and first directly elected president, was greeted with calls of "happy birthday" from hundreds of local athletes during a commemoration of National Sports Day at the Senayan Sports Stadium in South Jakarta.

After arriving at the Palace looking a tad weary, Susilo was welcomed by dozens of members of the presidential press corps who sang "happy birthday" to him.

In front of the crowd, Susilo said that he was grateful for having a free press here that could criticize freely against his administration as a means of checks and balances.

"I hope the press can remain watchful and independent as we live in this democratic nation...," said the father of two who was born in Pacitan, East Java, while adding that he was now facing a daunting task to bring the country up after the impact of surging global oil prices.

Meanwhile, State Minister of Information and Communications Sofyan Djalil said that the President did not hold any party to celebrate his birthday.