Student protests continue over prices and reforms

Student protests continue over prices and reforms

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of students again called on the
government to lower the prices of daily essentials and accelerate
political and economic reforms as a series of rallies in Java and
Sulawesi continued yesterday.

Unlike over the past two weeks, more than 2,000 students in
the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang left their colleagues
in Java behind by marching on the streets in an attempt to force
the authorities to meet their demands.

As in previous rallies, all the student demonstrations
yesterday, including those staged on campuses in Yogyakarta,
Jakarta, Bogor, Semarang and Kudus, ended peacefully as large
contingents of police and military troops watched closely.

The students of Ujungpandang's Parangtambung Teachers Training
Institute marched three kilometers downtown to join fellow
students of the Gunungsari Teachers Training Institute who were
staging a protest at their campus.

Waving banners and posters and chanting patriotic songs along
the way, the students called on the government to lower prices of
basic foodstuffs and speed up reforms.

Hundreds of fully-armed security personnel followed the
students on the march which caused traffic congestion for hours
in the city.

During a free speech forum held later at the Gunungsari
campus, the students called on the government to eliminate
"corruption, collusion and nepotism" which they claimed had
dragged the country's economy down to its lowest ebb.

Four military trucks transported the Parangtambung students
back to their campus after they aired their message.

Some 100 students of several local universities grouped in the
Indonesia's Makassar Students Forum also staged a separate
demonstration in Ujungpandang yesterday at the provincial council
office.

In a statement passed to the council's deputy speaker, Kallo
Bandaso, the students charged that the people's representatives
had "lost touch with most common people".

"Indonesian people have lost faith in the country's
administrators who have manipulated their rights. The fact is
there have been inconsistencies between what's been said and
done.

"Therefore, the forum is calling for a change or reform in
every sector," they said in their statement.

The students also dispersed peacefully after the rally.

Commenting on the students' move, legislator Kallo Bandaso
said: "I salute them, because they have demonstrated in peace
while causing no disturbances during their demonstrations."

In Yogyakarta, over 3,000 Gadjah Mada University students
rallied at their campus, shouting rough words against the
government.

The students marched on the campus grounds throughout the
morning, waving banners and making reform and price decrease
demands before assembling to hear speeches by their leaders.

The protesters also demanded political reforms and a limit on
presidential terms.

In Jakarta, hundreds of students -- dominated by scarf-wearing
female students -- of the state-run Syahid Hidayatullah Islamic
Institute also aired their protests through free speech forums
and rallies conducted at their university campus.

They called for the country's decision makers to lower prices
of basic daily essentials, eliminate corruption, collusion and
nepotism, and dutifully exercise the people's mandate.

In Bogor, West Java, hundreds of students of the Bogor's
Institute of Agriculture, and in Semarang, Central Java, hundreds
of state-run Walisongo Islamic Institute students also staged
similar demonstrations.

Dozens of students of Murian University in Kudus, Central
Java, together with one of their lecturers, met with local
council members to channel their concerns over the crisis to the
government.

"No matter what the system will be to solve the current
monetary crisis, be it through a CBS (currency board system) or
other measures, the government must be quick to decide, because
the situation is critical and worrisome," they told local
legislators.

Students in mainly Java and Sulawesi have held a series of
rallies and media statements as the country's highest policy
making body, the People's Consultative Assembly, holds its 11-day
General Session which began Sunday. (23/30/24/oby/aan)