Agus Triyono – Thousands of university students from across Jakarta are expected to hold a rally on Saturday calling for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to step down in response to the self-immolation of a fellow student last week.

The planned protest comes in the wake of a smaller rally on Wednesday – held in honor of Bung Karno University student Sondang Hutagalung, who set himself on fire in front of the Presidential Palace – that turned violent. Ten protesters were arrested and subsequently released.

Urai Zulhendri, an activist from the Indonesian University Students Action Front, said thousands of students from across the capital had agreed to take part in Saturday's rally, which is being called "Sondang Untuk Revolusi" ("Sondang for Revolution").

"What's been happening in Indonesia recently, including the death of our friend Sondang in protest at all the rot in the country, has opened our eyes to the fact that things have to be fixed immediately," Urai said on Friday.

Sondang's death has become a rallying point for student protests across the nation. In Palembang, South Sumatra, campus-based anticorruption movement Gerak called on students to shake up their easy lives.

In Jember, East Java, student activists held a march to honor Sondang's death, which they saw as a form of protest against the government's poor human rights record. In Malang, East Java, Sondang's act was interpreted as a protest against corruption.

National defense analyst Bantarto Bandoro previously said it was unlikely that the chain of protests would spark an Arab Spring-type revolution.

"The Indonesian government still fares better than the majority of Arab governments," he said. "[Sondang] wanted to raise awareness that there is something wrong with our politics, but what he did is not the start of a revolution."