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)