Zal Gibran – Hundreds of university students in Makassar, South Sulawesi, celebrated Youth Pledge Day on Wednesday with protests demanding that the government fulfill its promises, including its pledge to provide free higher education.
Meanwhile, students in Central Java protested against what they said was the lack of an effective opposition in the House of Representatives (DPR).
"The government has not fulfilled its pledge to provide free education," one of the South Sulawesi students said in his speech in front of the governor's office in Makassar. "In fact, school fees and other charges have risen and this is hurting the poor most."
The students, including those from state-owned Hassanuddin University, demanded to meet face to face with Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo, but police guarding the compound refused to let them in.
As emotions ran high, the students pushed the police back and shook the fence surrounding the governor's office in an attempt to tear it down.
Police on standby rushed in and chased the students away. No one was injured and the protesters dispersed peacefully after two hours.
In their speeches, the students urged the government to repeal a law on educational legal entities and for the police to end what they said was heavy-handedness in dealing with students.
The 2008 Education Legal Entity Law (BHP) has drawn protests from students across the country. It forces state-owned universities to finance their own operations, raising fears of the commercialization of higher education as well as rising costs. Many Indonesians already find the cost of tertiary education prohibitively expensive.
Another group of students held a protest in front of the South Sulawesi Legislative Council (DPRD).
Dozens of students belonging to the Pro-People Student Front scuffled with police as they tried to enter the compound to talk with council members. The scuffle ended when council chairman Muh. Rum and other councilors agreed to meet the students.
"Our coming here, which coincided with the Youth Pledge Day, is to prod council members to summon the general manager of state-owned electricity company PT PLN Sultanbatara in relation to rotating power outages," Rudiansyah, the protest coordinator, said when meeting the lawmakers.
"Council members have to summon PLN Sultanbatara to make it accountable for the power outages. We also ask PLN Sultanbatara to give assistance to victims of fires caused by the power outages because the company seems to have ignored their suffering," he said.
Rudiansyah did not say how many electricity outage-related fire victims there were.
Meanwhile, in Surakarta, Central Java, the Indonesian Students Executive Councils (BEM SI) declared they were forming a Students Opposition Front to protest the absence of a strong opposition bloc in the House of Representatives.
"The movement we have just declared is our response to the current political landscape in the House of Representatives, especially support for the new government," coordinator Wahyu Suranto was quoted as saying by the state-owned Antara news agency.
According to Wahyu, the fact that seven out of 10 factions in the House support the government may result in a lack of checks and balances in the next five years.
"In response to that, BEM SI is assuming the function of being the opposition to the new government," said Wahyu, who is also president of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Students Executive Council.
BEM SI claims to be supported by 58 student executive councils in higher-learning institutions across the country.