Students stage massive protest in several cities

JAKARTA (JP): With the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly only three days away, students across Java staged demonstrations yesterday to press their demands for lower prices and political reform.

Major peaceful demonstrations were staged in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto and Kudus. Students massed on their campuses and no clashes with security personnel were reported.

In Jakarta, more than 3,000 students staged a noisy protest at the sprawling University of Indonesia campus in Depok, just south of here. The rally was the third such gathering in the past two weeks.

"Reforms, reforms," the crowd chanted as students and alumni took turns climbing on top of a white pickup to address the crowd.

The protest began with only 200 students in the late morning. Three hours later, with their ranks swelled, they finally gathered on the field in front of the School of Social and Political Sciences.

The protesters carried banners demanding lower prices and an end to corrupt, collusive and manipulative practices. They also demanded that supreme national sovereignty be given to the people not the government.

They expressed concern over the economic crisis sparked by the rupiah's drastic plunge against the U.S. dollar that is crippling the economy and prompting mass layoffs and soaring prices.

"We still have time to show the Assembly what we want," Sri Edi Swasono, an alumnus and former chairman of the Indonesian Cooperatives Council, shouted to the crowd from the top of a car turned into a podium.

The 1,000 strong Assembly begins its General Session on Sunday to endorse the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines and to elect a president and vice president.

"Reforms or death," said a banner carried by students, while others said economic and political reforms were two sides of the same coin "which can be distinctly differentiated but not separated."

Some students carried a chair on which was written "this chair has already been ordered by the usual client," eluding to incumbent President Soeharto's renomination.

No uniformed security personnel were visible on the campus but dozens of military intelligence agents could be seen following the marchers.

At least three truckloads of riot police were on standby outside the campus, along with scores of rapid response troops on motorcycles carrying automatic rifles.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, a demonstration with similar demands took place at Jendral Sudirman University, where some 500 students took turns to express their ideas.

The protesters urged the Assembly to open their eyes to what people want to improve the country's economic and political stability.

"They (Assembly members) should fight for the people's interests, not the organizations that patronize them," said student senate member Kundiarto.

Scores of security officers in riot gear kept a close eye on the protesters.

In another Central Java town, Kudus, dozens of students took their protest to the local legislative council. They demanded the government do more to end the economic crisis and initiate political reform.

"The crisis is taking a toll on common people and it will become a terrible disaster unless a proper solution is found," they said in a statement.

In Yogyakarta, over 100 students from the Islamic University of Indonesia massed on their campus to demand lower prices and political reform.

They called for certain groups in society and the government to stop exploiting the sensitive issues related to race, religion and societal groupings for political ends.

"This is not the real issue that the nation is facing," they said in a statement. (23/har/byg/imn)