Students rally over price hikes

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of students from 10 universities here held three different demonstrations yesterday, demanding the government guarantees adequate supplies of basic commodities at affordable prices.

The rally was part of a two-day demonstration by students calling themselves the Association of Yogyakarta Youth Struggle.

They included students from the state-run Gadjah Mada University, the Institute of Indonesian Art and the Institute of Islamic Studies.

The private universities involved were the Yogyakarta University of Muhammadiyah, Janabadra University, Cokroaminoto University, Atma Jaya University, the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) and the Sanata Dharma University.

In a joint statement, the students said three decades of development programs had yet to provide people with justice and prosperity. The repressive approach that the government had applied in dealing with the food crisis would not reduce, much less solve, people's anxiety, the students said.

"We're not focusing our attention on any form of reforms (that many others have demanded) or on some elitist issues like the succession. What concerns us is the poor. (Presidential) succession will mean nothing if the people are still suffering," students coordinator Totok Shabirin said in his speech.

Yesterday's rally took place at three different campuses: UII, the University of Janabadra and the University of Sanata Dharma. (23/swa)