Students prepare for new campaign

Students prepare for new campaign

JAKARTA (JP): A union of dozens of student groups said on
Friday that they would appeal to the general public to join in
their demands for a transitional government, which they hoped
would transform the nation into a "New Indonesia".

Eleven student groups, grouped under the Committee of United
Students (KMB), said they had already organized a political
education program for the general public and set up campus
command posts to disseminate their ideas on the importance of a
democratic government for carrying out reforms.

The students told a press conference they would organize
street rallies to communicate their ideas and bring more people
to their cause. The students said they had found that this tactic
was the most effective way to get their message across.

The student representatives, speaking at the press meeting at
the University of Indonesia's campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta,
included members from: the Big Family of the University of
Indonesia (KB-UI), the Jakarta Front, the Communication Forum of
Jakarta Student Senates (FKSMJ), the City Forum (Forkot), the
Independent Front of Gunadarma University Students (FIMA), the
Collective Forum (Forbes), the Committee of Students and People
for Democracy (Komrad), the Trisakti Students Action Committee
(KAMTRI), the Student Action for People's Struggle (Ampera) and
the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Student Movement (Gema-IPB).

"The Indonesian people must fight for their sovereignty. We
all have the same goal: fundamental change in this country. We
embrace those who want to pursue the changes which have failed to
be realized by the (former president) Soeharto and (President)
Habibie government," said Roy Tanda Anugerah of KB-UI.

"We will raise (the public's) awareness of politics and
democracy and let them do the fighting," he said.

Mohammad Sofyan, known as Ian, from Komrad, said that in order
to fight for the demands, people should start a revolution.

"To pave the way for a revolution, we will call on students
nationwide to establish command posts to educate the people on
politics. This is the most important thing, even though it will
take time," Ian said.

He said that the students and the people would still need to
take to the streets to voice their aspirations.

"If we want to stage street rallies, we will take into account
the objective situation. We're still sure that mass rallies are
the most effective method for unarmed civilians," he said.

The students expressed optimism in their plans, pointing to
the success of last year's student movements which helped topple
Soeharto's government.

They said that student groups, such as KB-UI and students from
the National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN), had set
up several command posts for political training courses.

During the planned sessions, they said, students and others
would discuss and share their knowledge of general politics and
the country's current political issues.

The students also insisted that Habibie step down to give way
to a democratic transitional government, which would take his
place to prepare for a credible general election.

The transitional government, the students said, would also
bring Soeharto and his cronies, including Habibie, to trial and
revoke the Armed Forces' political powers.

They said that they would not reject a general election if it
was carried out by this transitional government.

"We will reject an election which is organized by the Habibie
government," said Eli Salomo from Forkot.

Indra Parindrianto of FKSMJ said the students had not set a
deadline for carrying out what he called the "people's power"
movement.

"We do not want to be confined by the general election
schedule set by the current regime. We will proceed with our
demand to establish a transitional government," he said.

Separately, Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djadja
Suparman called on people to cooperate to make the general
election successful.

"Let's think that the general election is carried out for the
nation's interest, so how do we comply with the people's wishes?
-- a fair and free election which is run smoothly and
peacefully," he said after a meeting with 200 women from the
Attahiriyah Islamic Study Group. (ivy)