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Students invade Suharto's hometown

Source
Associated Press - March 10, 1998

Joseph Coleman, Yogyakarta – About 10,000 students protested in President Suharto's hometown today, demanding Asia's longest-serving leader quit just as he was sworn-in for another five years in power.

In a major display of defiance, the students took to streets around the campus of Gadjah Mada University, one of Indonesia's largest and oldest colleges.

"Bring down prices, bring down Suharto!" the students chanted as they walked through the university campus.

Trucks and jeeps drove slowly at the front of the parade. Protest organizers shouted through bullhorns, urging undergraduates to join their ranks.

While some demonstrators sang nationalist songs or clapped, most waved small red and white Indonesia flags, saying they wanted Suharto to resign for the good of the world's fourth most-populous nation, which is facing its worst economic crisis in 30 years.

Unemployment has soared and prices are spiralling upwards as the currency, the rupiah, plunges amid a crisis of confidence in financial markets.

A $43 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund has failed to stem the slide. Foreign lenders and other governments fear Suharto is backsliding on commitments to reform the battered economy.

"We reject Suharto. We need the government to reform politics and economics. It's now or never," said Faisal Rizal, 23.

Student protests have been building across Indonesia over the past month as a 1,000-members assembly met in Jakarta, 260 miles to the west.

On Tuesday the body, filled with Suharto supporters, family members and associates, unanimously re-elected him after 32 unbroken years in power. No other candidates were recognized.

Suharto, who was born in a small village near Yogyakarta in 1921, took the oath of office before the assembly today.

"I don't trust the assembly anymore. They lie to us," said Nurhadi, a 24-year-old protest organizer. "They keep protecting Suharto."

Mass rallies have been banned for several weeks. However, police and the army have tolerated peaceful student protests as long as they remain on campus. Only about 50 police were on hand to watch over today's massive crowd. "Suharto should step down because he's too old and can't think clearly," one banner read.

"This is a peaceful demonstration. We don't want any riots, we don't want any deaths," said Nurhadi.

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