Students to Take to the Streets Tomorrow, Voicing 5 Crucial Demands

A number of Student Executive Bodies (BEM) from several universities in Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) are planning to take to the streets to stage a protest on Friday (11/6). The Chairman of the University of Indonesia’s BEM, Anandaku Dimas Rumi, confirmed that all faculty BEMs on his campus would participate in tomorrow’s action. Other BEMs joining include those from IPB, Pancasila, and Gunadharma University. According to Dimas, the protest is planned for the Horse Statue area on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, starting at 10.00 WIB. “Several organisations and movement nodes that participated in the national consolidation at the UI Campus yesterday are still confirming their attendance and the estimated number of participants at a meeting tonight,” Dimas said when contacted on Thursday (11/6). In tomorrow’s action, he stated that students will bring five main demands. First, demanding the government stop wasting the state budget. Second, lower the prices of staple goods and fuel. Third, stop the free nutritious meal (MBG) programme and the construction of Merah Putih Village Cooperatives. Fourth, stop civilian militarism, and fifth, demand that President Prabowo Subianto stop evading and acknowledge the government’s mistakes. Currently, Dimas said, his side is still making a number of preparations, especially regarding deepening understanding through a series of discussions. “Whether this will become Reformation Volume 2 or not, perhaps this could be our shared rhetoric. Does the government in its current condition still feel it is fit to hold the positions it occupies? Does it still feel it can represent its people or not?” said Dimas. “Are we carrying the theme of Reformation Volume 2? As I said earlier, those are our demands,” he added.