Students, ABRI not ready for dialog: Rector

Students, ABRI not ready for dialog: Rector

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Neither the Armed Forces (ABRI) nor students
seeking political reform are ready to meet, as ABRI has suggested
they should, according to an observer.

Ichlasul Amal, the rector of Gadjah Mada University, said he
had witnessed a number of previous encounters between the two,
but neither seemed to be equipped with a clear concept about the
reform they wanted or how to go about achieving it.

The exchanges tended to proceed monotonously, he said. Both
the students and representatives of ABRI or the government
usually did little beyond repeating long-held views and/or gave
incomplete answers, Amal said yesterday.

"The students were often not ready to defend and describe what
it was that they meant by political reform. The military officers
were not ready (to respond to the students) either," he said.

Therefore, "both parties tended to keep saying the same thing
over and over again, so those encounters appeared to be useless."

He did not say when and where such meetings had taken place,
but added the encounters would have been of greater benefit had
everyone involved prepared themselves.

The Gadjah Mada University campus has, for the past two
months, witnessed student demonstrations on an almost daily
basis. All have decried soaring prices of basic commodities and
demanded social, economic and political reform.

These and similar protests at many other campuses across the
country finally prompted the Armed Forces to offer a dialog in
order to learn about the students' demands.

The students have so far given the offer the cold-shoulder,
citing that certain conditions must be met first, namely
transparency, freedom of expression and that they be treated as
equals in the meeting.

Amal said he was confident the Armed Forces was strongly
committed to responding to the growing calls for reform.

"There's a spirit on the part of the military to revise its
(current political) role. But the Armed Forces cannot do it by
itself. Students now have the opportunity to convey their
thoughts on the matter," he said.

Amal promised he would facilitate any dialogs between students
and parties from outside the campus or even mediate at them.
However, he suggested the format of the so-called dialogs be
prepared well so they generate the optimum benefit.

Another rector, Harris Mudjiman of the Sebelas Maret
University in Surakarta, Central Java, said he and his staff
would discuss the increasing student protests on his campus with
local administrators today. Representatives of the local police,
administration, prosecutor's office and military are expected to
attend.

Sebelas Maret University students have been involved in
clashes with security forces during their demonstrations. Dozens
of them were injured Wednesday.

"These demonstrations clearly disrupt the learning process,
but what can we do? These demonstrations are the expression of
the students' concern about the crisis," he said. (23/byg/swe)