Youth Pledge Day marked with rallies

JAKARTA (JP): As had been widely expected, the 70th anniversary of the Youth Pledge on Wednesday was marked with noisy anti-Habibie protests by thousands of demonstrators in the capital and many other big cities across the country.

No clashes were reported and all of the protests ended peacefully under the watchful gaze of heavily armed soldiers and riot police.

In Jakarta alone, an estimated 10,000 protesters gathered in front of the People's Consultative Assembly/House of Representatives (MPR/DPR) complex.

The protesters, mostly university students and prominent government critics, wanted President B.J. Habibie to immediately hand over power to a transitional government free of Soeharto-era officials.

They also reiterated their rejection of next month's special session of the MPR which is -- among other things -- to issue the guidelines for a fresh general election.

In addition, the protesters wanted the revocation of the Armed Forces' (ABRI) dual function.

The demonstrators included students from Trisakti University, the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), the Foreign Language Academy (ABA) and activists of the City Forum (Forkot), Communication Forum for Jakarta Student Senates (FKSMJ), United People's Action (Akrab), Labor Committee for Reform Action (Kobar) and the National Coalition for Democracy.

Some of the protesters also claimed to be students from UPN Veteran in Yogyakarta, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

They held up banners and posters saying: "Form a democratic transitional government", "Unite in national dialog", "Reject the (MPR) special session", "Remove the Armed Forces' sociopolitical role" and "Bring Soeharto to trial, eradicate the New Order".

"We want the nation to be united and set up a transitional government. We don't want civilians to be played against others by the military," said Charlie from ITB.

Ratna Sarumpaet, chairwoman of the National Coalition for Democracy, added: "The transitional government should be clean of officials from the New Order era and active military officers.

If the current government is aware that it is incapable of solving the crisis, why doesn't it just leave the people to decide the future of the nation?"

The crowd, which peaked in size in the late afternoon, was blocked by a cordon of 500 security personnel from approaching to within 200 meters of the MPR/DPR complex. Two vehicles with water canons were deployed near the scene.

Unhappy at being blocked from reaching the MPR/DPR complex, the protesters then occupied the six-lane Jl. Gatot Subroto and the toll road between the two carriageways. Some of them tore down the wire fence between the street and the toll road to express their anger.

Their maneuvers forced the police to hastily redirect motorists to alternative roads, particularly those who were trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the area. Heavy traffic congestion was reported in the area and other roads in the capital until well after dark.

Some commuters were seen alighting from buses and walking through the area occupied by the protesters.

The demonstrators dispersed peacefully in the late afternoon after the security forces allowed them later to gather in front of the MPR/DPR building for about 20 minutes.

Other groups of protesters, including prominent government critics, staged rallies at the University of Indonesia's two campuses, Salemba in Central Jakarta and Depok 10 kilometers south of the capital.

Similar protests voicing the same themes took place on Wednesday in other cities, including Lampung, Bandung, Semarang and Manado.

In Lampung, southern Sumatra, students from the University of Lampung and Bandar Lampung University, along with local members of the Indonesian United Democratic Party (PUDI), took over the town's thoroughfares Jl. A. Yani and Jl. Kartini. They demanded the central government revoke ABRI's dual function, Antara reported.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, 800 students staged a similar rally in front of the provincial legislature, chanting "Habibie resign," and "Hang Soeharto".

AFP reported that some of the demonstrators, grouped in the United People's Action, tore down two huge pro-Habibie banners adorning the building and set them on fire.

In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, 850 students grouped in the Indonesian Youth Action Committee (KAPI), staged a rally in front of the governor's office here, calling for the abolition of the Armed Forces' dual function and the revocation of political laws.

From the North Sulawesi capital of Manado, Antara reported that hundreds of students from the state teacher training college took to the streets for the first time after being quiet for the past two months.

Driving in four buses and four trucks, the protesters went to the local governor's office on Jl. 17 Agustus, demanding the abolition of ABRI's sociopolitical role. (bsr/ivy)