Jakarta – Thousands of demonstrators from a number of groups demonstrated in front of the parliament in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon. The workers were rejecting the Draft Law on the Resolution of Industrial Disputes and the Draft Law on Establishment of Labour Efficiency.
The farmers from the People's Front for Agrarian Reform (Pembaruan Agraria, FRPA) were demanding agrarian reform as quickly as possible. Meanwhile a group from a number of student organisations were demanding that the management of peasants' land be returned to farmers. Coinciding with 42nd Farmers/National Agrarian Day the demonstration was attended farmer organisations from a number of regions.
At around 12noon, the first workers who had arrived broke down the gates to the parliament. Two of three police water cannon vehicles fired water to disperse them. Nevertheless there was a serious class between security forces and the demonstrators.
The security forces then allowed them to enter the grounds of the building an listen to the chairperson of the National Front for Workers' Struggle (Front Nasional Perjuangan Buruh Indonesia, FNPBI) Dita Indah Sari give a speech from on top of a command vehicle. Not long after, hundreds of farmers from FRPA along with hundreds of other students arrived and joined the worker demonstration.
In their statement, FRPA demanded that the government immediately implement the Basic Agrarian Law and the Law on Basic Produce Distribution as a condition for [creating] economic and political democracy.
Meanwhile, the secretary general of Village Development, Saiful Bahari and an activist from the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (Konsorsium Pembaharuan Agraria, KPA) Erphan Faryadi stated that the National Movement for Agrarian Reform called on the government to end violence against farmers and traditional society over the last three years.
The movement which is supported by 18 farmers' organisations and non-government organisations (NGO) also demanded that the government not use the military and police against farmers who are struggling for their right to land.
Erphan also called on the government to immediately implement agrarian reform which benefits ordinary people. Implementation of agrarian reform, said Erphan, means that the state provides land, food and work to the people. "This demand is valid on the grounds that farmers are a part of this nation which wishes for government policies which are responsible and side with the interests of the majority of people", said Erphan.
According to Saiful, for a long period farmers and traditional Indonesian people have experienced oppression and violence as a result of their land being seized. The Indonesian nation has lost its sovereignty over food and work as a result of following damaging stipulations from international trade agreements regulated by the World Trade Organisation.
For long enough said Saiful, the Indonesian nation has been hit by the burden of foreign debt accumulated by corrupt government officials.
Saiful explained that agrarian laborers represent a way out of the economic crisis. Agrarian workers represent a means to move the wheels of the national economy and at the same time the wheels of the people's economy.
The Basic Agrarian Law was promulgated 42 years ago however it has not been effectively implemented so the majority of farmers do not have access to ownership of land.
In Bandung, the day was marked by demonstrations by around 1,500 farmers under the Pasundan Farmers Union (Serikat Petani Pasundan, SPP). They arrived from a number of regions in West Java to complain about their situation to members of the Jabar Regional People's Representative Assembly.
The demonstration which rallied at the Gasibu Field on Jalan Diponegoro began at around 7am. They arrived from a number of parts of Jabar such as Sumedang, Karawang, Indramayu, Cianjur, Garut, Tasik, Subang, and Bandung in scores of trucks and busses which were parked in front of the PT Telecom office headquarters.
Last Friday, no less than 2,000 farmers from Yogyakarta [Central Java] held a farmers' art parade around Yogyakarta. As well as the farmers' art parade, the orderly procession carried posters which demanded government policies which was more orientated to farmers welfare.
As well as farmers, the parade was joined by NGOs, youth, student and social organisation. Initially they gathered at the Northern Square. After speeches by representatives from youth, farmer and NGO organisations, the participants marched around the city towards the Yogyakarta governor's office to meet with the governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X.
The farmers supported by youth, students and NGO activists were invived to go to the Kepatihan open audience hall which had been emptied so that the thousands of farmers could be seated. The farmers felt disappointed because they were unable to meet with the Sultan who was in Jakarta but were able to meet with other government officials.
In Jombang, East Java, students and farmers gave speeches and erected banners. The joint action was objecting to government policies which are not considered to side with farmers and was accompanied by a "happening art" action.
Demonstrators from the Student Secretariat for Peoples Democracy (Serikat Mahasiswa Untuk Demokrasi Kerakyatan, SMUDEMKRA), Jombong Farmers Consultative Forum (Forum Musyawarah Petani Jombang, FMPJ) and the Jombang Youth Struggle Front (Front Perjuangan Pemuda Jombang, FPPJ) called on the government to immediately revise Basic Agrarian Law Number 5/1960.
They consider since the New Order regime [of former President Suharto] up until now, the rights of farmers have be shacked. At that time farmers largely played the role of objects in the authoritarian system of the New Order through the monopolisation and control of assets which should be owned by farmers. Thus many farmers lost their land as a consequence of a development program which focused on the industrial sector and the presence of foreign investment.
In Pelembang, the secretary general of the South Sumatra Untied Solidarity for Farmers Welfare (Kesatuan Solidaritas Kesejahteraan Petani, KSKP), Ipi Magrang Cawang and the head of the Rural Division of the Pelembang Legal Aid Institute, Dede Sineba, [said that they] considered that local government as well as regional and provincial governments must be able to take advantage of the promulgation of MPR Decree Number IX/2001 on Agrarian Reform and Management of Natural Resources to resolve a number of agrarian problems which are nearly all linked with the lives of farmers.
Because of this the regional and provincial governments were pressed to draw up local regulations on protecting farmers so that land cases can be resolved and the lives of farmers become more prosperous. (Team Kompas)
[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski.]