Youth Pledge Day marked with rallies

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)