Jakarta – Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto has held talks with 32 youth organisations linked to a group affiliated with the ruling Golkar party, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.
The dialogue, which was organised by the Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI), was hosted by Youth and Sports Minister Agung Laksono and attended by a number of high-ranking military officers as well as well-established youth groups.
Antara said a number of issues, including the current economic crisis and difficulties faced by students as the result of the economic downturn, were discussed at the three-and-a-half hour meeting.
Antara said armed forces chief Wiranto read a paper in which he stressed the need for national stability as the country struggled to overcome its economic problems.
"Not all the people's wishes could be fulfilled and that is why we need to conduct a dialogue, to reduce differences and to reach a unified vision," Wiranto, who is also defence minister, said.
It was not clear from the report whether student activists and groups responsible for the wave of protests on campuses across Indonesia in recent months were present at the meeting in Jakarta.
Kompas daily on Sunday listed the names of 10 youth groups involved in the dialogue but none of them are known to be linked to the recent student protests, many which have taken on an anti-government flavour with some regularly calling on President Suharto to step down.
Most of the groups protesting in recent weeks have rejected offers of dialogue by the armed forces on the grounds that they are too structured. Students say the outcome would be pre-determined and ineffective in meeting their demands for change.
Some students have said they would only have a dialogue with President Suharto, who has not ruled out such a possibility but has not brought the idea forward.
Kompas quoted Wiranto as saying he had forbidden students from taking their protests outside the campuses. In recent weeks, there have been a number of violent clashes when security forces stopped protests from going outside campus gates.
"Taking to the streets is not a good attitude. Taking to the streets will not solve the problem but add to the problem," he said, alluding to the military's fear that street protests will snowball into riots.
But Wiranto warned students they were not beyond the law while protesting on campus.
"ABRI has a clear attitude towards radical thoughts and actions, even if they happen on campus," he was quoted in Kompas as saying.
"A campus is not immune to the law because it is only a part of the national system and I will sue the students who have burnt my picture because they have defiled me," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
Education Minister Wiranto Arismunandar last week said students should not involve themselves in "practical politics" on campus and said he would back any rector who disciplined students for taking part in such activities.