Students want Soeharto tried

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of students here and in several other cities staged peaceful rallies on Friday to demand the upcoming Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) arrange for the prosecution of Soeharto, expel the military from politics and prepare for a fair and honest general election.

Also on Friday, different groups aired their opposition to the session, saying it has failed to heed the people's demands. The session is scheduled for Nov. 10 through Nov. 13. Among dissenting voices was a group that planned to call a national strike and another that planned to hold a peaceful mass demonstration to air their grievances.

In Central Jakarta, around 5,000 students and activists who called themselves the Salemba Forum packed the University of Indonesia's campus to express their demands which included an end to the government stipulation that all organizations, political or otherwise, adopt the Pancasila state ideology as their sole basis for existence.

The students urged the Assembly to decree that former president Soeharto and his cronies be brought to court for alleged abuses of power during Soeharto's 32 years in office.

"If the MPR rejects our (demands), we have prepared another agenda. Just wait and see what will happen on Nov. 14," said Agus Setyawan, the forum's spokesman. He did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, thousands of people from towns around West Java gathered in Senayan East Parking Lot near the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly compound. They said they were there to guard against possible attempts to disrupt the session and would remain in place until after the Special Session was over.

"This action is to anticipate those who intend to foil the session. We are ready to face them," Daud Poliradja, the coordinator of the Moslem Youth Forum for the Success of the MPR Special Session, was quoted by Antara as saying.

Many of the campers are activists from the Moslem Youth Movement, Moslem Students Association (HMI), Humanika and Humaika, the news agency said, adding that they came from Tangerang, Bekasi, Serang, Cianjur, Bandung and Garut.

"We are optimistic that our number will increase to 50,000," said Daud.

Elsewhere, while addressing a media conference before inspecting troops deployed at the Assembly complex, Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said there was no logical reason to attempt to foil the event.

"A successful Special Session will help to restore the confidence of both the local and international community and will eventually lead to a recovery of the nation's economy," he said.

"It also shows us that the ongoing reform movement is on the right track," he added.

Another rally was staged by around 500 HMI activists in front of Taman Ria Senayan, a fun park adjacent to the Assembly building, to protest against the military's role in politics to demand Soeharto be prosecuted.

In Bengkulu, the capital city of Bengkulu province on the island of Sumatra, hundreds of Islamic students took to the streets to demand Soeharto be brought to justice. They also called on the Armed Forces' to cease playing a political role.

In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, around 100 activists of the Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement (GMNI) rallied in front of Diponegoro State University to demand the general election be held earlier than next May, for when it is currently scheduled.

"The ruling government is unconstitutional and has failed to win the people's support. An immediate general election is needed to establish a new and credible government," they shouted.

In the Central Java city of Surakarta, 400 activists staged a demonstration demanding an end to the military's political role. They also objected to Pancasila's status as the sole state ideology and called for the release of Moslem political prisoners.

Similarly in Yogyakarta, hundreds of students from a number of universities staged a demonstration on the Gadjah Mada University campus to demand prosecution of Soeharto and an end to the military's political role.

Still in Yogyakarta, 5,000 Moslems rallied in front of the provincial legislative council building to express their view that Pancasila should no longer be the country's sole ideology.

Back in Jakarta, around 200 alumni from several noted universities in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya and human rights activists and leaders of the opposition National Front group on Friday declared that the Special Session "has failed to respond to the people's demands."

Among the demands they voiced were the dissolution of Golkar and the other two political parties -- the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- both of which were established under Soeharto's New Order regime.

In a discussion led by economist Syahrir, the activists also demanded an end to corruption, collusion, and nepotism and called for those guilty of abusing human rights to be brought to trial.

They said that unless their demands were met, they would campaign for a national strike beginning on Nov. 10, the day the Special Session is due to commence.

Also in Jakarta, the Communication Forum of All-Jakarta Student Senates (FKSMJ) said was it opposed to the Special Session because recommendations that they lodged with the Assembly last month were not included on the session's agenda.

"Since our demands have not been accommodated, we hereby declare our total opposition to the session and are planning non- violent mass demonstrations to express our stance," Dandy, a spokesman for a delegation of the forum said after separate meetings with the Golkar and Armed Forces factions. (team)