Students demand amendments, revolution in national life
Students demand amendments, revolution in national life
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of people gathered here on Friday for one the biggest
rallies yet held during the Annual Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), to demand the finalization of the
amendment process.
In Yogyakarta, protesters demanded a revolution to improve
conditions in the country, while in Surabaya students rejected
the plan to set up a constitutional commission.
In Jakarta, protesters formed a human chain that stretched
from Taman Ria Senayan Park to the Assembly's entrance gate on
Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta.
The protesters, who came from various organizations, mostly
universities across Jakarta, began the rally at 7:30 a.m. at the
Hotel Mulia Senayan in Central Jakarta where legislators have
been staying during the Annual Session. From the hotel they
marched to the nearby Assembly building, causing serious traffic
congestion.
A number of student executive bodies from Greater Jakarta had
earlier planned a massive rally involving 5,000 students, but
only around 500 turned up.
In Yogyakarta, dozens of students staged a rally at Gadjah
Mada University to demand that the factions in the MPR end their
bickering and avoid political haggling over the amendment
process. According to the students, the legislators were like
snakes fighting it out in a cage.
"After seeing developments during the increasingly nauseating
Annual Session, which has failed to bring about changes in the
people's lives, we demand a total revolution in all aspects of
national life," protest coordinator M. Arif Fibri said as quoted
by Antara.
The revolution could start with the establishment of a
constitutional commission for the drafting of a new constitution.
The commission should comprise academics, experts, religious
leaders and public figures, said the protesters.
This should be done without disrupting the amendment process,
the students added.
They therefore demanded that the MPR avoid a deadlock in the
amendment process. A deadlock, said the protesters, would only
justify suspicions that the annual session was nothing short of a
farce.
In Surabaya, around 200 students from Airlangga University and
the Institut Sepuluh Nopember rejected the establishment of a
constitutional commission.
Carrying posters reading "Constitutional Commission = Trade
Commission", "Beware of TNI/Police Political Maneuvers", and
"Reject the Constitutional Commission", the protesters also
warned of the possible comeback of the military and police onto
the political scene.