Students back to DPR, insist Habibie quit

JAKARTA (JP): Students, who spearheaded the movement to remove Soeharto from the presidency earlier this year, took up where they left off on Monday and staged a vociferous demonstration at the House of Representatives (DPR) demanding President B.J. Habibie's resignation.

About 1,000 members of Forum Kota -- an association of students of 37 universities and colleges in the greater Jakarta area -- broke down the House's front gate and forced their way in. They were halted by fully armed personnel in a standoff which started in the afternoon and was still continuing until midnight.

In speeches and the messages of their posters, the students lambasted Habibie for failing to curb the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, insisted that he resign and called for the establishment of an interim "Indonesian People's Committee" (KRI) to govern until a "new, legitimate" government was founded.

Negotiations to enter the compound had failed after several students berated a public relations clerk who informed them of the "rule" that only a delegation of 15 would be received by legislators.

It was the biggest student protest since Soeharto's resignation last May. "The Second Round," read one poster; another urged "Bring down the prices, bring down Habibie".

In the evening, some of the students started to leave, but by 11 p.m. a busload of others had arrived as reinforcements. Supporters came with meals while taxi drivers slowed down and handed the students small amounts of money, thanking them for "fighting for us."

Troops

At least eight trucks full of troops were seen posted around the Semanggi cloverleaf near the House's compound, reportedly readied to flush out the students as the parliament has hearings scheduled for this morning.

Some students vowed they would stay the night.

At one point on Monday night, Lt. Col. Said Aqil of the Jakarta Police VIP security section tried to persuade the students to leave.

"You know, I'm an old man, why don't you just go home?" he asked gently. A student retorted: "Well, friends, Bapak is old, let him go home."

Jakarta Military Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, who inspected the situation later, said: "We'll just let them be. We'll see who lasts longer here."

In May, thousands of students occupied the building. They were eventually evicted by troops a few days after Habibie took power on May 21. Soeharto resigned the same day amid a devastating economic downturn, rioting the previous week in Jakarta and other major cities which left almost 1,200 dead and mass student protests nationwide against his 32-year rule.

Charging that Habibie's appointment was unconstitutional, the students derided the country's politicians as "clowns" and said the proliferation of new political parties in recent months was worthless in addressing the acute economic problems.

"Babies need milk, not parties," read one banner.

Separately, in a move to prevent the outbreak of renewed rioting in the capital, Jakarta Police dispatched personnel on Monday to spots considered especially vulnerable to unrest, including business and shopping centers and residential areas.

"It's just a standard procedure. We deployed our officers to guard some important places to anticipate the possibility of riots," city police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said.

Aritonang did not disclose the number of officers deployed.

The student rally caused massive traffic congestion in Central Jakarta because the protesters took over part of Jl. Gatot Subroto in front of the legislative building.

The drive from Jl. Sudirman to Jl. Palmerah -- usually about 15 minutes -- took an hour-and-a-half in the afternoon traffic snarl. (imn/aan/jun)