Threats to stability

Threats to stability

Fresh clashes between Indonesian riot police and student
protesters in Jakarta invite comparison with the clashes that
helped bring down former president Soeharto in May. Indeed, one
student has termed this latest campaign as "round two" in the
continuing struggle to rid Indonesia of a corrupt and
undemocratic leadership.

But this time there are fundamentally different considerations
at work. The swift action of the police to disperse students
outside the House of Representatives suggests the security forces
are in no mood to tolerate another challenge from the streets
while the country is on the brink of economic and social
collapse.

Indonesians are distracted by larger concerns, notably
survival, as living standards plummet and the prices of even
basic commodities such as rice soar beyond the reach of ordinary
families.

Hunger is a bigger threat to stability than moral or political
principles and hunger has already produced food riots in several
parts of Indonesia. The potential for widespread upheaval cannot
be discounted.

-- The Sydney Morning Herald