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)