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)