Yogyakarta's Sultan leads massive reform rally

Yogyakarta's Sultan leads massive reform rally

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Yogyakarta's Sultan Hamengkubuwono X led a
peaceful rally of at least 600,000 in this ancient city yesterday
to demand President Soeharto's resignation.

The rally, in which mainly students participated, gathered in
front of the palace, located in the southern part of the city,
after commemorating National Awakening Day at their own campuses.

The long march was organized by the Yogyakarta Residents
Movement in cooperation the Yogyakarta Military District.

Hamengkubuwono X, who earlier attended a free speech forum at
the University of Gadjah Mada's campus, said he was ready to lead
the people's movement for reform in the city.

"I am ready to be present among you, to be in the front row
and will not retreat. The government's power has ended. The
people have long suffered. It is time for them to get their
rights back," he said.

The sultan and governor KGPAA Paku Alam VIII said during the
rally that the government had long abused its power and urged the
Armed Forces to join the student reform movement.

They also called on all residents to support the student
movement and help avoid violence during rallies.

In Surabaya, East Java, at least 50 students were injured in a
clash with antiriot police when students marched off their
campuses in the city.

The victims were brought to Soetomo General Hospital for
medical treatment.

The riot occurred when hundreds of students, many riding
motorcycles, resisted a ban from security personnel against
marching around the city.

Department stores, shops and offices throughout the city were
closed due to fresh rumors of riots circulating a day earlier.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, scuffles between protesters and
security personnel occurred when 50,000 students marched off
their campuses.

No injuries were reported in the incidents.

In Medan, North Sumatra, tens of thousands of students
occupied the provincial council building, causing damage to
several parts of the building.

Photographs of Soeharto, chairs, tables and windows in several
rooms were badly damaged.

Two youths, involved in the vandalization, were sent by
students to the municipal police for investigation.

In Semarang, Central Java, hundreds of thousands of people and
students took peacefully to streets to demand Soeharto's
resignation.

The students held a free speech forum in front of the
governor's office, featuring intellectuals and local
businesspeople.

Local businesspeople contributed buses to transport students,
while households provided them with rice and clean water.

In Bandung, West Java, hundreds took to streets and assembled
in front of the governor's office and Gasibu field to demand
Soeharto's resignation and comprehensive political and economic
reforms.

Offices, shops and department stores in the city were all
closed with their fences covered with banners reading "Supporter
of peaceful reform" and "Reform without violence".

Security personnel and traffic police were busy handling
traffic jams in a number of streets because of the mass rally.

Lt. Col. M. Anwar, chief of the Bandung Military District,
said he was very happy that the student rally did not deteriorate
into riots.

Students from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
rejected the National Committee for Reform, recently offered as a
reform measure by Soeharto.

ITB rector Lilik Hendrajaya said in front of thousands of
students at the campus that such a committee would be ineffective
in solving the crisis of confidence the government is facing.

He said the best solution to the crisis was for the President
to step down, and for Vice President B.J. Habibie to be given the
task to hold general elections to elect a new president and a new
vice president.

In Bogor, West Java, thousands of students from several
universities and institutes in the city thronged the local
provincial council building to demand Soeharto's resignation.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, more than 150,000 students
and youths assembled in the Karebosi field in the city demanding
Soeharto's resignation.

Newly appointed Wirabuana Military Command chief Maj. Gen.
Suaidi Marasabessy, who spoke at a free speech forum, said that
reform needed to be carried out constitutionally.

Syahruddin Kaseng, rector of the Ujungpandang Teachers
Training Institute, called for total reform. (team)