Jakarta – About 1,000 university students staged a peaceful demonstration in Central Jakarta yesterday, to celebrate Independence Day with calls for further reform.
The demonstrators, grouped in the Indonesian Students Network (JMI), walked 1.7 kilometers from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout toward the Istana Merdeka presidential palace, hoping to meet with President Abdurrahman Wahid. But dozens of police stopped them about 500 meters from the palace. The demonstrators told police they had no intention of causing violence.
After about 20 minutes, the students were allowed to resume their rally, following the conclusion of a flag-raising ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of dignitaries at the state palace. The students criticized the government and People's Consultative Assembly for failing to accomplish the goals of the reform movement.
Before dispersing at 12.20pm, the students went to the Supreme Court building, nearby the palace complex, where they cursed the poor performance of the nation's top judicial body. They also went to Istiqlal Mosque, where they prayed for national unity.
Earlier in the day, the students held a free speech forum outside Hotel Indonesia on Jalan Thamrin, starting at 8.30am. They voiced three main demands: amend the 1945 Constitution in line with calls for reform; remove all remnants of ex-president Soeharto's New Order regime from the government and parliament; and expel the military and police representatives in the MPR.
The protest did not disturb traffic on the street. Some of the demonstrators, using rock-climbing equipment, scaled the Welcome Statue standing in the circle's center and after reaching the top, unfurled a black banner conveying the three demands. The students wore the distinctive jackets of their universities, including the University of Indonesia, Trisakti and Pancasila.
Delivering speeches, the protesters called for the prosecution of former president Soeharto for corruption and abuse of power. They also called for Soeharto's cronies and relatives to be put on trial. The demonstration was entitled the "Mourning Day of Reform" because of the MPR's "failure" to heed the people's calls for total reform.
Students and youths on Wednesday staged rallies in front of the parliament building, also calling for an end to the military and police presence in the nation's legislative bodies.
The protesters were grouped in the Islamic Students Association (HMI), Guna Dharma Student Group, Indonesian Students Network and the Jombang People's Action Committee, Antara reported. The rallies caused congestion on Jalan Gatot Subroto as most of the demonstrators came to parliament on foot.
The Jombang People's Action Committee unfurled a 100-meter banner containing thousands of signatures asking the military and police to leave the MPR. MPR Commission B on Sunday proposed the presence of the military and police in the highest law-making body be maintained until 2009 and in the House of Representative until 2004.
"We have reached an agreement to keep the military and police in the assembly until 2009. We are concerned that the servicemen may not be ready to use their right to vote," Commission B Chairman Ramjbe Kamarulzaman of the Golkar Party told reporters on Sunday.
About 30 street singers grouped in the Kampus Diakona Modern Foundation also held a rally outside parliament on Wednesday, demanding the MPR issue a decree guaranteeing the rights of street kids. "We want to change the awareness of the people's representatives about the issue of street children. We should not let their number increase, because street children are susceptible to free sex and narcotics, as well as persuasion to commit crimes," the foundation's coordinator, Lumi, was quoted as saying by Antara.