Students rally at Merdeka Palace

JAKARTA (JP): About 2,000 Trisakti University students broke through a tight military cordon across from the Merdeka Palace on Wednesday, only hours after President B.J. Habibie reproached them for taking to the streets.

Unlike in many of the previous student rallies, the soldiers appeared bewildered and unprepared for the mass congregated on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, located exactly in front of the compound of Habibie's office in Central Jakarta.

Some soldiers scattered in confusion.

"This is nuts. We did not expect the crowd to be this huge," one of them said.

"We first heard that these students had just finished their protest at the Attorney General's Office (in South Jakarta) at about 2 p.m."

Arriving at 3:15 p.m. in a convoy of about 20 buses and dozens of cars and motorbikes, the students -- attired in their respective school jackets -- demanded that Habibie's administration bring former president Soeharto to trial.

Their leaders also urged the government to take responsibility for disturbances during the recent wave of student protests.

Students sang, danced and waved flags and banners, some reading "Stop Military Violence", "We're Not Shooting Targets" and "Hang Soeharto" replete with caricatures of the former leader.

At about 4:30 p.m., 17 representatives of the students were received by Habibie's military secretary, Air Vice Marshall Budhy Santoso, Presidential Guard Commander Maj. Gen. Suwandi and Deputy Cabinet Secretary Erman Rajaguguk at the State Secretariat.

After the meeting, Gunawan, one of the group's leaders, told the media: "We have handed over our statement to them. We also told them that we want the trial process of Soeharto to be started soon, in the next three days at the latest."

Gunawan quoted Erman as saying that "there will be a guarantee from Pak Habibie about Pak Harto's trial".

Jl. Constitution

Earlier, President Habibie chided the students for protesting on the streets, saying they should use constitutional means.

"We cannot pursue reforms from the streets. The road we must take is the constitutional way," Habibie said in off-the cuff remarks after opening the congress of the Indonesian Successors Struggle Association (KPPRI) at Bina Graha presidential office.

"Both are through avenues -- one Jl. Thamrin and the other Jl. Constitution," said Habibie. The main thoroughfare of Jl. Thamrin has been the site of almost daily student protests.

Habibie defended the legitimacy of the People's Consultative Assembly, saying it was the result of a valid general election participated in by 94 percent of eligible voters.

In the United States, only 52 percent of the people voted for the president, he pointed out.

"Even if some people claimed that the 1997 election was dishonest -- although I don't believe that since all parties signed the election result -- and if we say that 10 percent of the votes were rigged, that leaves 84 percent of the people who voted ... If we take 30 percent away, that still leaves 64 percent, far more than in the United States.

"Don't those people who were elected have a greater claim to legitimacy than those determined from Jl. Thamrin?"

Habibie's own presidency has been dogged by questions of legitimacy.

Critics point out that Soeharto was forced to resign amid strong protests by students questioning the legitimacy of the entire political system that the autocrat built to sustain his power for 32 years.

Two hours before reaching the palace, the Trisakti students held a short protest at the Attorney General's Office to press home their demand for a probe into Soeharto's wealth.

The city also witnessed other groups of students voicing the same demand at several spots, including the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the General Election Institution office, the area near the People's Consultative Assembly, all in Central Jakarta; Ibnu Chaldun University on Jl. Pemuda in East Jakarta; and Blok M Plaza in South Jakarta.

Two students were reportedly injured at the Manggala Wanabakti building near the Assembly complex.

Separately, about 130 married soldiers deployed at the Suropati park near Soeharto's house had a tearful reunion with their wives and children at the park on Wednesday afternoon.

"I miss him," said three-year-old Yondra, pointing to his father, Maj. Agus Sutomo, the commander in charge of security at Menteng, Gondangdia, Kebon Sirih and Cikini subdistricts. (edt/prb/emb/ivy)