UI students convey their concerns to ABRI faction

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces faction in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) met with student representatives of the University of Indonesia (UI) yesterday following several days of protests by students over the dire economic situation.

The faction's chairman, Yunus Yosfiah, received 20 students clad in their traditional yellow jackets at the MPR complex on the sidelines of the fifth day of the Assembly's General Session.

The students delivered a petition to the faction, which was the only one of the five in the Assembly willing to meet them, demanding major reform of the legal and political systems and the economy.

They also said that President's Soeharto's accountability speech delivered Sunday during the opening of the General Session was unacceptable.

"We, the students of UI, take a political stand and reject Soeharto's accountability speech," the senate's chairman Rama Pramatama said. "Our concern grew out of the fact that political factions hastily deliberated their acceptance of the accountability speech."

Rama said the students demanded reform of the country's legal system, succession of the nation's political leadership and a return of public offices' main function to being to serve the people.

"The changes we are asking for are substantive, not artificial," he said, adding that they were adamant changes would be sought peacefully.

Yunus said he was pleased to see the enthusiasm and idealism shown by the students but reminded them not to make hasty judgments.

"We must try to evaluate the situation with crystal clear judgment," he said during the hour-long meeting.

He reminded them that the cabinet had developed the country successfully during the four-and-a-half years prior to the economic turmoil which began last July.

Poverty

But the student delegation countered Yunus' argument saying that Soeharto's accountability speech neglected to mention that 87.5 million people still lived in poverty, according to World Bank data.

In his address Soeharto maintained the number of poor numbered 22.5 million.

Rama further noted that the current monetary crisis had slashed the per capita income by about 70 percent to approximately US$300.

The students then asked for stricter measures against corruption, collusion and nepotism in the economy.

Yunus responded by saying that eliminating graft was a major concern of all five factions in the Assembly.

"However, as you all will know when you live in the real world, reforms are not easy to undertake," he said, adding that they had to be done gradually.

UI students have held rallies at either or both of their campuses in Salemba and Depok every day since last week.

Rama said students from the university would continue voicing their concerns regardless of who the next president was.

He said the students still respected the Assembly members as the representative of the people, despite a growing pessimism over the effectiveness of the congress.

But he noted that it would be a waste to spend Rp 45 billion (US$4.5 million) on organizing the General Assembly if "the Assembly members only waited to listen to the gavel closing the meeting, and followed it with long applause." (byg/das/imn)