Jakarta – Unlike other historical days, the fourth year of the reform movement was observed in a bitter mood on Tuesday, with students nationwide taking to the streets to vent their disappointment with the political elite's failure to comply with the reform agenda.
The demands aired during the rallies varied, ranging from legal measures against former president Soeharto and his corrupt cronies to the resignation of President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The demonstration near Jl. Cendana in Menteng, where Soeharto and his family live, turned ugly as the protesters from the City Network (Jarkot) clashed with police who blocked their access to the house of the former dictator.
No casualties were reported, but some of the students were injured and got all wet as the police beat, grabbed and threw them into a water fountain in the traffic circle nearby.
A larger group of students from various universities across Java marched to the State Palace, demanding the government to lower prices of fuel and other basic commodities, as well as electricity, telephone and transportation rates.
They also urged the government to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism, to bring human rights violators to court and to reject foreign loans.
The demonstrators, carrying with them floral bouquets usually reserved for funerals, unfurled posters that read: "Mourning the death of the reform movement" and "Revolution Now".
They waved pictures of President Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz crossed out with red paint.
The students could not meet Megawati as she was in Bali, where some 150 people staged a peaceful rally against violence committed by the state. Hamzah was at his office on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan when the rallies occurred.
Students took the lead role in pushing for changes in the country, which climaxed with Soeharto's resignation on May 21, 1998 after 32 years in power. The abduction of student activists who challenged Soeharto's rule, the shooting death of four Trisakti students and mass rioting which left hundreds burned alive were the prices paid for a national leadership succession.
History repeated itself, as it was Soeharto who benefited from student rallies against his predecessor and founding president Sukarno in 1966 so he could assume power.
None of the three administrations which have followed Soeharto managed to satisfy the people's demand for sweeping reforms. On the contrary corruption, collusion and nepotism have worsened, the legal system has been virtually unchanged and the selfish, short-term objectives pursued by politicians have all contributed to the bitterness.
A recent poll conducted by leading daily Kompas revealed that over 80 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the state of the reform movement at present.
Megawati, once the darling of the oppressed and the student protesters, was one of four figures who directly benefited from student-led reform and was chosen to take the lead in the move to challenge Soeharto. The others were former president Abdurrahman Wahid, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais and Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
Student rallies also took place in, among other towns, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Palu in Central Sulawesi, Makassar and Pontianak in West Kalimantan.
The protesters from the Alliance of Students for Total Reform and the splinter group of the Islamic Students Association in Palu burned an effigy of President Megawati with the words "Enemy of the Poor". The rally occurred in front of the governor's office.
One of the students, Temu Sutrisno, said Megawati had failed to carry out reform and to bring the nation out of the economic crisis. "Therefore she has to be forced to step down," he told some 100 students attending the rally.
Another student, Burhanuddin, shouted: "Megawati's government is not on the side of the people in accordance with the reform ideals. Neither is she a leader who can guide Indonesia out of the crisis."
In Bandung, representatives of several student bodies demanded the provincial councillors to push the government to take legal action against Soeharto and his cronies, and to seize their ill-gotten gains to subsidize commodities for poor people.
The students also expressed anger over the price hikes of basic necessities.
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais joined the chorus of criticism on Tuesday, saying that despite some positive achievements, the reform movement failed to show any improvement in law enforcement.