Student leaders invite military cadets to dialog

JAKARTA (JP): Student leaders have invited their counterparts from the Military Academy (Akabri) to participate in a national dialog aimed at finding solutions to the current problems facing Indonesia.

Ali Fahmi of the Committee for the Preparations of the National Student Dialog said the military cadets had been asked to join discussions on various social and political issues facing the nation ahead of the June 7 general election. "We have not received any word from them, however," he was quoted by Antara as saying at the University of Indonesia here on Sunday.

About 200 representatives from various student and youth organizations across the country also have been asked to attend the dialog scheduled to be held in Sawangan, Bogor, West Java, on March 5 to March 7.

"We want the military cadets, who are people of our own age, to sit down with us and talk. Besides, the current Akabri is different from the Akabri of the past," Ali said.

"Hopefully, this will bolster democratization, and they (the cadets) will be able to sense a 'climate of dialog' among civilian groups," he said.

The proposed agenda for the dialog includes discussions on elections, militarism and the investigation into the wealth of former president Soeharto and his cronies.

"Students, who are the guards of the reform, should be united again," he said. (swe)