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Students rise up to reject 'return to New Order'
Take to the streets: Participants in the #GejayanMemanggil (#GejayanCalling) demonstration throng Pertigaan Colombo, a three-way intersection on Jl
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ake to the streets: Participants in the #GejayanMemanggil (#GejayanCalling) demonstration throng Pertigaan Colombo, a three-way intersection on Jl. Gejayan, Yogyakarta, on Monday.(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
Thousands of students in at least nine cities across Indonesia took to the streets on Monday, demanding an end to what they claimed were ongoing attempts to roll back two decades of political reform in the country.
In scenes reminiscent of the student movement that led to the downfall of the New Order Era in 1998, the university students amplified their demands for the government and the House of Representatives to hold off the passage of a number of controversial bills, including a revision to the Criminal Code (KUHP), arguing that the bills threatened democracy and civil liberties.
In the capital, thousands of activists and students from various universities thronged in front of the House compound on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta, blocking road access to Slipi, West Jakarta, as they called for lawmakers to listen to the voice of the people, who have rejected controversial articles in the bills.
The protesters chanted and held up banners with slogans ranging from “Reformasi Dikorupsi” (Reform Era is Being Corrupted) to “Mosi Tidak Percaya” (Motion of No Confidence), which reflected their dwindling faith in lawmakers and the government.
“We declare our motion of no confidence in the House. We are deeply disappointed because our aspirations have fallen on deaf ears and lawmakers do not take out concerns seriously,” said University of Indonesia (UI) Student Executive Body (BEM) chairman Manik Marganamahendra, one of the students participating in the protest.
The widespread protests on Monday followed a smaller protest staged by hundreds of university students in front of the House last Thursday. In all the rallies, the students have raised the same demands while also criticizing the recent trends emerging in the country that activists fear are examples of the alarming state of Indonesian democracy.
The students particularly demanded that the House halt the planned passage of the KUHP bill, which contains a number of contentious articles — including restoring a ban on insulting the President — that critics have warned could threaten democracy and put civil liberties at risk.
The protesters also slammed the House and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration for, among other things, passing a controversial revision to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law, which has neutered the antigraft body’s investigative powers and undermined its independence.
In Yogyakarta, students and members of the public filled the main road of Jl. Gejayan in response to an invitation to street protests called #GejayanMemanggil (#GejayanCalling), a hashtag that had been trending on social media since Sunday.
Gejayan is a three-road junction that, during the 1998 student protests, became one of the spots where prodemocracy activists and students staged rallies demanding that then-president Soeharto step down from power.
One of the protesters carried a poster that reads “The forests are on fire but it is the KPK that is being put out”, referring to the raging forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan that have caused smothering haze in parts of the country and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
Students in Yogyakarta participated in the protests despite circulars issued by rectors of at least four universities, including Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and Sanata Dharma University (USD), which said the institutions did not support the student movement.
Hundreds of students in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, held a march from Balikpapan Plaza Square to the Balikpapan City Council building demanding President Jokowi issue a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to replace the revised KPK Law.
“We want our demands to be heard by the House so that there will be no more disappointment for the Indonesian people,” said Angkit Wijaya, one of the protesters.
Besides the KUHP bill, the protesters also protested against problematic articles in the manpower bill, demanded the bill on the eradication of sexual violence be passed and called for an end to the arrests of activists in all sectors.
Similar protests also took place in Purwokerto in Central Java, Samarinda in East Kalimantan, Padang and Bukittinggi in West Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi and in Bandung, West Java.
“We refuse to return to the New Order era,” said Sayid Ferhad Hasyim, a protester who participated in the rally in Samarinda.
The protests are likely to continue on Tuesday, during which the House is reportedly scheduled to pass the KUHP bill as well as other controversial bills, including a revision to the 1995 law on correctional procedures that would remove hurdles for graft convicts to get remission or parole.
Following protests last week, Jokowi called on the House on Friday to hold off the bill’s passage, citing at least 14 articles that still needed to be reviewed.
House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo and lawmakers of the House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, including those on the KUHP bill working committee, met with the President on Monday morning to talk about the issue.
Bambang said after the meeting that factions in the House were aware of the public concern and had agreed to review the bill as they had three remaining plenaries until the end of the term on Sept. 30. In the meantime, they would keep trying to negotiate with the President about the bill but would not force it through.
"If there is not enough time, we will decide to pass it over to the lawmakers in the next period. But we will keep trying so that it can be finished in the next period and give more information to the public about the bill,” Bambang said, adding that he was still optimistic that this could be completed before the end of the period.
During the meeting, Jokowi asked the House to not only delay the KUHP bill’s passage, but also the deliberation of other bills, including the manpower bill, land bill, mining bill and correctional procedures bill.
House Commission III member Teuku Taufiqulhadi of the NasDem Party said the House would review the bills thoroughly. “But we haven’t made an agreement upon these with the other parties. We will discuss it tomorrow,” he said.
Andi Hajramurni in Makassar, Apriadi Gunawan in medan, Arya Dipa in bandung, Sri Wahyuni in yogyakarta, Syofiardi Bachyul in Padang, Agus Maryono in Purwokerto, Aman Rochman in Malang, and N. Adri in Balikpapan contributed to this story.
