Students rally at Merdeka Palace

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)