Thousands of students hold fresh protests in Makassar

Thousands of students hold fresh protests in Makassar

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Thousands of students from
various universities here flocked to the streets again on
Saturday and tore down the national flag at several strategic
locations, including Hasanuddin International airport, Makassar
Port and the Mandala Monument on Jl. Jend. Sudirman.

The groups, mostly from Makassar State University, Indonesian
Muslim University and Muhammadiyah University, later raised the
flag of an independent Sulawesi: a green flag with a red symbol
of Sulawesi island on a white circle in the middle.

No fatalities or injuries were reported in Saturday's
protests.

Police were seen tightly guarding several campuses as well as
the air and sea ports.

The protesters blocked the streets and burnt tires causing
heavy traffic congestion. There have been protests throughout the
city for six consecutive days, triggered by former President B.J.
Habibie's failure to run in Wednesday's presidential election.

South Sulawesi is Habibie's traditional political stronghold;
his hometown of Parepare is 230 kilometers north of Makassar.

The rallies continued to voice three central issues; namely
the formation of a free Sulawesi, an eastern Indonesia State or
wide-ranging autonomy. Students from Hasanuddin University,
however, supported maintaining the republic's unity.

"The spirit of freedom has made us aware that all this time
we've been manipulated by the central government," said Asmar
Oemar Saleh, an Anti Corruption Committee activist.

Students raised their demand to break away from the republic
after witnessing that the Assembly had failed to accommodate
aspirations from eastern Indonesia, particularly people from
Sulawesi, said Asmar.

Wirabuana Military Command Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Husni
Thamrin said that so far the security forces had tolerated the
students' action.

"There have been no indications that the protests are
engineered. We understand their wish to establish an independent
Sulawesi and we hope that this is just a temporary reaction.

"The actions stemmed from students who felt disappointed when
the Assembly turned down Habibie's accountability speech. We urge
students to stay away from anarchy and not to disturb the public
interest," Husni said.

Husni, however, called on students to stop tearing down the
national flag. "We don't want any of these incidents to happen
again. We're still being lenient towards them but we'll see how
things go," he said.

In response to mounting demands which are feared will lead to
further disturbances, South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna called
all rectors and campus authorities to a briefing here at midday
on Saturday.

"I told all rectors that I can understand the movement as long
as it does not lead to anarchy," Palaguna told media shortly
after the session.

"The protests are the work of frustrated people who feel
abandoned by the country's development."

As of Saturday afternoon the students were still continuing
their rallies around the capital city of Makassar and reports
said that large protests were likely to continue on Monday.

A political observer at Hasanuddin University Kautsar Bailusy
warned eastern Indonesia's political elites not to take advantage
of the situation.

"They should play a role as opposition parties. It's cheap to
think that they will use the student protests only to gain
certain positions in Gus Dur and Megawati's next cabinet."
(27/edt)