Students' rallies

Students' rallies

From Media Indonesia

Thousands of students from Java and Sumatra in the Students' Executive Body held a long march to the People's Consultative Assembly/House of Representatives (MPR/DPR), after holding a free forum at the University of Indonesia's Salemba campus. This shows they are concerned with the President's administration.

The Jan. 29, 2001, student movement did not want to get trapped in the conflict related to President Abdurrhaman Wahid's leadership. Their demands to the nation's leaders are a realization of the 1998 reform agenda launched to crush Soeharto.

Soeharto's fall due to the 1998 students' reform movement was, unfortunately, not followed by an overall annihilation of the New Order, which had created a deep-rooted system. Consequently, the reform process leading to a new Indonesia only resulted in much homework for our students. The 1988 reform agenda is not contained in the fundamental concept for destruction of the New Order system.

And during Habibie's transitional administration, the formal touch through MPR Stipulation by MPR Special Session was only superficial, so that it only had the impression of the birth of "fabricated" reformers. Dying reform and half-hearted reform are continued by the President, which is proved by the emergence of the Bulog and Brunei scandals as well as other deviations.

After the 1998 reform and the students' return to campus, those who enjoyed the reform results were busy distributing power and enriching themselves, resulting in clashes among themselves due to uneven distribution. They no longer cared about the grievances and burdens borne by the people.

With their morally responsible attitude, the students have again launched a movement and accumulated power to strive for the people's aspirations. The action of continuing the people's aspirations are the grounds of the students' movement, because the nation's leaders no longer care about the reform agenda. The students again rallied in the streets. That is all they can do to remind the nation of the leaders' indifference.

People who expect much from the students become represented in their movement. The students' spirit never dies after observing that the political elites take care of their individual and their groups' interests. What is coming to light is that corruption, collusion and nepotism in Abdurrhaman's era are ruder and more explicit than in the past, so that the students feel they have a moral obligation to strive for the truth. The students' movement has a broader orientation in determining their demands for voicing the people's interests.

AHMAD MATHAR KAMAL

Jakarta