Student protesters march backward against Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): Day-to-day rallies may waste energy, but not the brain as hundreds of people returned to the streets on Thursday to make various demands.

About 1,000 Muslim students from a number of universities and academies in Jakarta marched backward from Al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta to the House of Representatives building to add pressure for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's resignation.

When they arrived at the House after their about three- kilometer walk, dozens of women activists in traditional kebaya blouses and sarongs were acting as jamu (herbal medicine) and Javanese cookie vendors. The activists, who were celebrating International Women's Day, said they had come to heal the country's ailing political elite.

The Muslim students said they were sending the President a message that it was just as easy for him to step down as it was for them to reach the House.

"We're giving the President an example of how easy it is for him to resign," said Andi Rachmat, chairman of the United Action of Muslim Students (KAMMI). He was holding a banner which read "Gus Dur, mundur sajalah" (Gus Dur, just step down).

Andi said Gus Dur should resign for the sake of the country. Muslim students across Jakarta, he added, no longer stood behind the President because of his government's failure to carry out sweeping reform.

"The nation has been under a serious threat of disintegration since many instances of bloody unrest have erupted in many regions, with the latest hitting Central Kalimantan," he said.

In their meeting with People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais, the students said the President had lost the House's political support as demonstrated by its memorandum of censure against the President last month over his alleged role in two financial scandals.

"Therefore, a resignation is the best face-saving choice for the President in order to save the country from disintegration," Andi said.

In his reply, Amien applauded the students concern over the current political uncertainty and said the President should not force himself to carry out the heavy presidential tasks.

In their protest, the woman activists packed the House lobby with various posters and banners condemning members of the elite for caring more about power than people.

They carried the jamu in bottles and used political terms to name the medicine, for example "potion to heal corruption, collusion and nepotism" and "formula to fight militarism".

In a meeting with the women, some legislators were forced to sip a glass of the jamu, otherwise the protesters, led by human rights activist Yeni Rosa Damayanti, prevented them from leaving the meeting room.

Anti-Golkar

Separately, hundreds of youths staged a demonstration at the Attorney General's Office, demanding the dissolution of the Golkar Party, which they accused of protecting corrupt figures of the past regime.

The demonstrators said Golkar should not be given a chance to survive in the reform era because of the pivotal role it played in the government's oppression of people for three decades.

"Golkar's claim of new paradigm has been proven a lie because it has kept within its ranks corrupt officials of the past," said Komaruddin, chairman of the University of Indonesia Student Action Forum (FAM UI).

Outside the capital, over 4,000 people rallied on Thursday to show their support for Gus Dur around an intersection in Majenang district of Banjarsari, Central Java, near the border with West Java.

The demonstration caused heavy traffic congestion, with vehicles queuing for two hours to leave or enter the town. The queue of vehicles reached 10 kilometers.

Apart from locals, the people came from Cilacap in Central Java and Ciamis in West Java.

They prayed and staged a public speech in downtown Alun-alun Square before marching to the intersection.

Their demands included the dissolution of the Golkar Party, which they accused of betraying the nation.

A spokesman for the demonstrators, Ahmad Murtado, said the rally was held in response to a planned student rally at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta upon the arrival of the President from his overseas trip in the wee hours of Thursday. (45/rms/dja)