Protests for reform continue
Protests for reform continue
JAKARTA (JP): Even as fellow students participated in a
government-sponsored dialog with officials in Jakarta,
demonstrations for reform continued on university campuses in
various cities on Saturday.
In Yogyakarta, around 100 students from Sunan Kalijaga State
Institute for Islamic Studies demonstrated against corruption,
collusion and nepotistic practices, which they blamed for the
economic crisis.
The group called themselves the Action Front of Students for
People and included students from the institute itself,
Indonesian Islamic University (UII), Janabadra University and
state-run Gadjah Mada University. The students unfurled banners
and waved posters demanding affordable prices of food and other
essential commodities.
They also rejected the outcome of the General Assembly of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which they said was rigged.
In March, the assembly endorsed the 1998/2003 State Policy
Guidelines, reelected President Soeharto for a seventh
consecutive term and elected B.J. Habibie as vice president.
Security personnel displayed restraint and negotiated with the
students when they attempted to march off the campus onto the
streets. Both parties agreed that riot police would withdraw if
the students went back onto their campus, which they did before
dispersing peacefully.
In Jakarta, around 100 students from private-run Ibnu Chaldun
University on Jl. Pemuda also attempted to take their protest
onto the street, but were prevented from doing so by security
personnel. Representatives from the Indonesian Academy of Banking
and Sukabumi Students Forum joined the demonstration, Antara
reported.
Student leader Titik Damayanti said the demonstration was held
to show they did not recognize the dialog held between students
and cabinet ministers on Saturday.
"The dialog was a futile piece of government engineering. We
will continue with demonstrations," she said.
In Mataram, the capital city of West Nusa Tenggara, around 800
students from Mataram University set up a free speech forum at
the provincial legislative council and took turns to criticize
the government's handling of the economic crisis. They marched
two kilometers from their campus to the council under the
watchful eye of 200 security personnel.
"Praise be to Allah, the students were orderly," West Lombok
police chief Lt. Col. Djunaidi Tiansyah said, as quoted by
Antara.
The students returned to their campus and dispersed peacefully
later in the day.
In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, 200 students from
Walisongo State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) criticized
the political elite's abuse and manipulation of the law to
justify their actions.
Students carried banners and posters proclaiming that
"fighting for the people is not subversion" and "everyone has the
right to talk about politics." They tried to leave the campus,
but were stopped by riot police.
The students then burned an effigy of a leading national
figure.
Also in Semarang, 200 students from state-run Diponegoro
University visited the provincial legislative council to seek a
dialog with legislators. No one was available for a meeting so
the disappointed students held a free speech forum outside the
building to give vent to their frustration.
"We are disappointed because we can't meet the chairman and
deputies of the council, so we will continue with our street
protests," a student said. (23/har/swe)