Public Discussion with State Officials at UGM Ends in Chaos, Officials Evacuated
A public discussion involving several state officials at the Joglo Gelanggang Inovasi dan Kreativitas (GIK) UGM on Monday evening ended in chaos. The discussion featured three officials: Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency Nusron Wahid, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, and Head of the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency (BP Taskin) Budiman Sudjatmiko.
The discussion, which began at 19.00 WIB, initially proceeded in an orderly manner. Deputy Minister Sudaryono presented plans for a single-window export scheme, while Minister Nusron Wahid expressed optimism regarding his ministry’s programmes.
The situation began to heat up when Budiman Sudjatmiko delivered material on freedom of expression. He also invited students to criticise him in the official forum.
As a result, several students advanced to the stage and unfurled banners reading “Reject Traitors to Reformasi” and “UGM Rejects Regime Sycophants”.
After that, the atmosphere became increasingly uncontrollable, with shouting, pushing, and the throwing of water bottles. The three officials were then evacuated from the building. Budiman Sudjatmiko was eventually evacuated through a side door for security reasons, while Nusron Wahid and Sudaryono met with the students.
Under tight guard, the two sat on the asphalt to engage in dialogue with the students. However, the dialogue did not last long as the situation heated up again, forcing their evacuation.
From the perspective of the Student Union Chair, Mesa, the officials were not fit to discuss Pancasila while Indonesia silences the people’s voice, treats criticism as a disturbance, and wastes public money on useless programmes. The action was taken because the officials appeared evasive. “They must be approached because there is no other effective way. Even when this is done, there is no guarantee they will feel guilty,” he stated.
On the other hand, Nusron expressed regret over the incident. He said there was a group that was undemocratic, unprepared for dialogue, and unwilling to accept an exchange of ideas, instead prioritising coercion and violence. “This forum was supposed to be a good dialogue, as happens on other campuses. There was no motivation to curtail anything; we were ready to be criticised. If there was a mistake, we were ready to correct it; if there was input, we would follow it up. But it was thwarted by that group,” he said.
Budiman Sudjatmiko also regretted that the discussion had to be disbanded due to the unconducive situation, despite his readiness for dialogue. Meanwhile, Sudaryono stated that the Prabowo administration is very open to criticism. “We are ready to schedule a healthy re-discussion in the future,” he said.