Thousands of Gus Dur's supporters stage rally
Thousands of Gus Dur's supporters stage rally
JAKARTA (JP): At least 2,000 people from various groups staged
a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday in
support of ousted president Abdurrahman Wahid.
The protesters, grouped under the banner of the Indonesian
Islamic Students' Movement (PMII), the People and Student Forum
for Democracy (Famred), the Oppressed People's Action Committee
(Karat) and the National Democratic Forum, backed Gus Dur's
decision to suspend the People's Consultative Assembly and the
House of Representatives, as well as the former ruling party,
Golkar.
Besides the youth organizations, several hundred Abdurrahman
supporters from East Java grouped in the National Awakening Force
also joined the rally.
Representatives of the groups delivered speeches, mostly
condemning the special session of the People's Consultative
Assembly as being engineered by people from the New Order regime.
The protesters unfurled posters and banners reading: "The
President's decree is the people's voice" and "The special
session is the work of the New Order and military".
Abdurrahman declared a state of emergency early on Monday
morning, suspending the Assembly, the House of Representatives
and Golkar.
The decree was rejected by the Assembly during the special
session on Monday that ousted Abdurrahman from the presidency and
appointed Megawati Soekarnoputri as President in his stead.
During the rally, Gus Dur's supporters almost became involved
in a clash with hundreds of police officers when the former
attempted to approach the presidential palace.
The protesters and riot police were involved in scuffles for a
few minutes, but order was quickly restored.
It was not only demonstrators that gathered in front of
Merdeka Palace; passersby and motorists also stopped by to see
what was happening.
At about 5 p.m., Karat activists arrived at the palace in some
25 buses, joining thousands of other protesters.
The Karat activists had earlier traveled the city's main
thoroughfares in convoy, and came close the legislative complex
in Senayan, Central Jakarta. However, they were prevented from
actually approaching the complex. The protesters then marched to
the palace.
Meanwhile, other activists grouped in the City Forum (Forkot),
the National Democratic Student Front (FMND), and the Indonesian
Student Executive Body (BEMI) walked from the Hotel Indonesia
traffic circle to the presidential palace.
Their leaders gave speeches warning the public that former
President Soeharto's New Order forces were behind the Assembly
special session.
They were of the opinion that the special session was held for
the sole purpose of satisfying the political interests of people
from the New Order.
These groups then joined the other groups who had been staging
rallies in front of the presidential palace since morning. (jun)