Febriyan and Apriadi Gunawan, Bandung/Medan – A number of mass demonstrations took place in Jakarta as well as in other regions on Tuesday as the People's Consultative Assembly held a plenary session to swear-in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono.
More than 500 members of 23 NGOs staged a rally near the Assembly compound, to protest Yudhoyono's election for a second term. Traffic around the Assembly compound in Senayan was rerouted from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., causing massive traffic jams in other parts of the city.
The People's Struggle Committee (KPR), which comprises 14 NGOs, and the Indonesian Political Absenteeism Association (PGS), which comprises nine NGOs, said Yudhoyono's first term had failed to improve worker's prosperity.
KPR spokesman Akril Prasetya said the government had failed to increase minimum wages to level set by the World Bank (US$200). This year, the minimum wage is set at Rp 1,069,865 ($110.00) per month.
Akril said the government's economic policies, including cutting subsidies on gasoline, kerosene and electricity, had made it more difficult for the poor to make ends meet.
He also protested the implementation of the 2009 Education Legal Entity Law. "Instead of making education affordable to the poor, the law led to the commercialization of education," Akril said.
Separately, in Bandung, West Java, hundreds of university students staged a rally in front of the Gedung Sate provincial administration office, expressing their readiness to monitor Yudhoyono's administration as an opposition force.
In Medan, North Sumatra, several student organizations staged a rally at the Fountain Monument, saying the 2003 Manpower Law was outdated. Reza Prasetya, the chairman of the Medan-based Indonesian Student Association (SMI), said the law did not benefit the people.
During a rally at Gadjah Mada University traffic circle in Yogyakarta, hundreds of students also demanded the government revoke the manpower law. The students also demanded the government restore the authorities of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Legal experts have said Yudhoyono's intervention with KPK by issuing a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) as a legal basis to appoint KPK interim leaders was inappropriate, because it was not passed by the House of Representatives.
In Palembang, South Sumatra, more than 100 university students grouped under the Indonesian Nationalist Students' Movement (GMNI) staged a rally against Yudhoyono's swearing in for a second term.
They marched from the Raden Fatah State Islamic Institute to the South Sumatra gubernatorial office and regional legislative council, carrying banners that read: "Neoliberalism: Our oil, gas and coal is sold very cheaply to overseas countries".
"The new administration should resolve the Bank Century debacle. This was one of Yudhoyono's failures during his first administration," student leader Eka Subakti said. (nia)
[Slamet Susanto and Khairul Saleh contributed to the article from Yogyakarta and Palembang respectively.]