Students admit to being used by political elite
Students admit to being used by political elite
JAKARTA (JP): Antigovernment student groups admitted on
Tuesday to have been manipulated by the political elite at the
legislature to topple President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, but
said they would remain critical of the government.
Irfan Syauqi Beik, chairman of the Student Executive Board
(BEM) of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said the
demonstrations staged by some students over the last three months
were promoted by the political interests of certain groups in the
legislature that tried to topple the President through the
Buloggate and Bruneigate financial scandals.
"After seeing the reality we became aware later that none of
the political elite in the legislature is credible because they
are fighting for their own interests and not for the people and
the nation," Irfan said in a political discussion on
reconciliation and the role of the campuses at Trisakti
University here.
Irfan regretted that students have been divided into anti- and
pro-government groups, saying the student movement must return to
its original moral mission and orientation for the people's
social welfare and democracy.
"We are now entering a cooling-down period to revise our moral
movement and design programs to bring us closer to the people,"
he said.
He said that IPB students would focus on research in the field
of farming to help improve the social welfare of farmers who
constitute a major element of the population.
BEMs of numerous universities, teaching institutes and
academies in Java and Sumatra staged a series of antigovernment
demonstrations in Jakarta recently, demanding the President's
resignation due to his alleged involvement in the two financial
scandals. The students also demanded the dissolution of the
Golkar Party which was deemed responsible for the prolonged
crisis and widespread corruption during the New Order era.
Andre Rosemade, president of Trisakti University's Campus
Society, concurred and said the recent antigovernment student
demonstrations went beyond their moral movement as they were
trapped in the conflict between members of the political elite.
"The division among student groups must be halted and all
students must unify to press the political elite to pay attention
to the people and problems they are facing.
"Students must remain critical of the government and the
legislature," he said.
Andre said the student organization at the university would
enhance cooperation with the campus authorities to intensify
their social development programs in rural areas in Banten and
West Java to improve local people's income and help develop
democracy in the two provinces.
Both Irfan and Andre said students would take to the streets
in the near future in response to the political deadlock between
the President and the legislature as they were in conflict over
the division of power.
The two activists said students would stage demonstrations to
press the government and the House of Representatives to pay more
attention to the people.
Meanwhile, Prof. Thobby Mutis, rector of Trisakti University,
called on students across the country to remain critical of the
government and the House, saying the campuses have their own role
to remind the two about their mission to serve the people.
"Students must play their role as a pressure group for the
people," he said.
He also called on the Rectors Forum to play a role in
mediating the conflict between the President and the House.
"The independent forum could play its role to sponsor a
reconciliation meeting among the members of the elite in
conflict, including political figures from small factions at the
House and the Indonesian military leadership," he said.
Prof. Ronny R. Nitibaskara, coordinator of private
universities in Jakarta, criticized political and legal experts
as most of them were no longer independent in airing their
opinions.
"They are no longer independent because they are allegedly
interested in power," he said. (rms)