Looking at the present day, however, observers say that civil movements in the country in general need to be resilient in voicing issues.

 “Civil movements have failed to form resilience. They tried to bring down the [political] tension by holding an ‘Ikut Mendesak Tapi Santuy’ [Protesting but Chill] event, but in the end, they lost the moment.

“The movement gradually ended as a mere press release,” the Lokataru legal and human rights foundation’s program manager, Mirza Fahmi, said during an online discussion hosted by Indonesia Corruption Watch on Wednesday.

Thousands of students took part in nationwide rallies last year to protest problematic bills in front of the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta from Sept. 24 to 30, making it the largest student movement since that of 1998, which brought down then-president Soeharto.

Students delivered seven demands last year, among them the rejection of some controversial bills including the revised KPK Law and Mining Law, resolution of human rights abuse cases and withdrawal of the Indonesian Military (TNI) from restive Papua.

According to Mirza, last year’s #ReformasiDikorupsi student protest was successful in gathering the largest mass movement in Indonesia. However, he also deemed the movement a failure, given that none of the protesters’ demands were met.

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