The dissenting voices rejecting the present parliament are not confined to student activists and renegade politicians.
A number of retired generals joined forces Thursday with around 100 men protesting in the name of the 1945 Independence Defenders Front (FPP) and the 1945 People's Movement Rejecting Amendment (Geram 45).
Two generals seen in the demonstration were retired Lt. Gen. Syaiful Sulun and Lt. Gen. Sudibyo, as well as a former member of the 'Struggle' Democratic Party (PDIP) with a military background, Roch Basuki.
Rejection of the amendment process apparently was not their only agenda. Geram and FPP are appealing to the community not to trust the People's Constituent Assembly (MPR).
They also called on people to consider all the decisions and regulations, including the first up to the fourth amendment, made by the Assembly as illegitimate acts.
The demonstrators effectively urged MPR members elected in the 1999 general election to immediately stop their political activities, claiming they were acting illegitimately.
In the action at the parliament building, followers of Geram and FPP wore T-shirts with the slogan "I love Indonesia and vote no confidence in the Assembly." The presence of a number of Indonesian flags clearly identified the group as nationalist in sympathy.
The involvement of Lt. Gen. Syaiful Sulun raised eyebrows. He was chairman of the military faction of parliament from 1987 to 1997.
After the replacement of Suharto by B.J. Habibie on May 21,1998, Syaful Sulun worked with former Vice President Try Sutrisno and a number of veteran Army officers in a united front against Habibie.
They voiced their aspirations through organizations such as the Veteran's Association, of which Sutrisno was chairperson, and through the National Front (Barisan Nasional) led by former commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) regiment, Kemal Idris, and former Defense Minister Edi Sudrajat.
Their dissatisfaction with post-Suharto Indonesia strengthened with the loss of the battle for control of the Golkar leadership. In the race for General Chairman of Golkar, Sudrajat was ousted by Akbar Tanjung.
When the controversy over the amendment process rose to the surface, Try Sutrisno and Syaiful Sulun were among those who strongly rejected the revised constitution under the pretext that it threatened the unity and integrity of the nation.
At a seminar held by the Institute for Strategic Studies of former Home Affairs Minister and retired four-star general Rudini, Try Sutrisno, who was regarded as Suharto's protigi, made clear his rejection of the amendment process by declaring that the process had to be stopped at all costs. "it is no problem if we are considered as non-reformist," said Try at the time.
Striking a different note were students grouped under the Action Student Front of Indonesian Universities (FAM UI) and the Student Front of Reform and Democracy (FAMRED), which also voiced a vote of no confidence in the MPR. The student groups continue to sound the theme that Golkar party, the New Order and the military needed to be taken to account.
Either way, the magnitude of the demonstrations was not significant as it involved at the most 500 persons. But one source closed to the demonstrators told Laksamana.Net that a number of retired generals were backing the protest, along with another remnant of Suharto's regime, former Finance Minister Fuad Bawazir.