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