Students launch hunger strikes, call for reform

Students launch hunger strikes, call for reform

JAKARTA (JP): More university students in Java staged protests
yesterday demanding political reforms and lower prices for basic
foodstuffs.

As the 11-day General Session of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) entered its third day, seven students from the
Surabaya-based Airlangga University initiated a hunger strike.

The students vowed not to eat until the MPR meets their
demands, which include the highest policy-making body rejecting
President Soeharto's accountability speech.

Accompanied by hundreds of students calling themselves OPP, or
Orang-orang Peduli Perubahan (People Concerned for Change), the
seven students from the Faculty of Social and Political Science
also called for a national referendum to elect a new president
and demanded prices of basic commodities be lowered soon.

"We are already very concerned about the stagnation of the
country's democracy. Just to voice our aspirations we are faced
with the security apparatus. Is there still a ray of light for
democracy in this republic?" Iwan Hidayat, one of the hunger
strikers, said.

Before going on the hunger strike, Iwan and hundreds of his
fellow students rallied inside the university's compound under
the close surveillance of scores of soldiers and riot police on
the campus' perimeter.

The students burned tires and released dozens of balloons,
some inscribed with words such as "Demokrasi Sudah Terbang
Tinggi" (Democracy Has Flown Away) and Hentikan Kekerasan
Terhadap Rakyat (Stop Violence against the People).

Hundreds of students from Sunan Ampel Islamic Institute, also
in Surabaya, staged a similar demonstration as their Airlangga
University counterparts.

Some of the Sunan Ampel students have also vowed to go on a
hunger strike today, sources said.

One of the institute's deputy rectors, Paruhito, said
yesterday that he would not bar students from expressing their
concerns as long as it was done inside the university compound.

"Academic freedom has regulated it. But if (they stage their
demonstration) outside, I will not be held responsible," he told
The Jakarta Post.

Yesterday, scores of soldiers and police were seen patrolling
Surabaya, the East Java capital, especially around university
campuses, banks, government buildings and shopping centers.

However, no violence was reported during the student
demonstrations yesterday.

Students of the Walisongo Islamic Institute in the Central
Java capital of Semarang staged a similar protest inside their
campus compound, demanding the high prices of basic commodities
be lowered.

Dozens of students of Diponegoro University, also in Semarang,
went to the local city council office to complain about the
soaring prices of education and daily allowances.

Muhammadiyah University's Student Senate in Surakarta, also in
Central Java, issued a statement demanding the government lower
the prices of basic commodities as soon as possible.

Dozens of students of Sunan Kalijaga Islamic Institute in
Yogyakarta also staged a protest.

"Lower the prices!, Scrap nepotism, corruption, collusion.
Reform our political system, refresh the national leadership,"
they chanted.

A group of students from Bandung's Islamic University
(Unisba), which called itself Unisba Student Activists Forum,
also staged a rally at their campus yesterday, demanding the
government slash the prices of foodstuffs by, for instance,
cutting the salary of the incoming ministers and MPR members.

In Jakarta, at least 1,500 students from various faculties of
the city's Teachers Training Institute (IKIP) also demanded the
government fix the "current economic turmoil and the corrupt
political system".

Calling themselves Students Solidarity for National Concerns,
the students called the MPR's General Session a "mere political
stage play instead of a session intended to listen to people's
aspirations".

They also demanded the soaring prices of basic commodities be
lowered.

Yesterday's student demonstrations were the second in Jakarta
since the MPR General Session started.

On Monday, hundreds of University of Indonesia students
marched and opened a free-speech forum at the School of Medicine
compound on Jl. Salemba Raya in Central Jakarta. They demanded
legislators engage in dialog.

A few days before the session, a series of similar student
protests were also recorded in other major cities in Java and
Sulawesi.

Commenting on the rallies yesterday at the University of
Indonesia, the university's top official supported the on-campus
rallies staged by students, saying that they were using such a
forum to contribute their views and opinions and seek a solution
to the current economy and leadership crisis.

Asman Boedisantoso Ranakusuma, UI's rector, boastfully said
that in all the rallies the students had proposed what he called
"fast acting" medication to the nation's economy as well as the
leadership crisis.

"I think (the appeals) are good as they are also part of the
people's pleas," he said after delivering a speech marking the
donation of basic commodities to some 1,000 UI employees.

Asman said the university would not take punitive measures
against the students involved in rallies.

"If they rally here (inside the campus), why should we impose
sanctions on them?" he said. (09/nur/emf/23/43/aan)