Controversial Draft Bills Trigger Wave of Protests
Simultaneous student demonstrations were held on Monday (23/9/2019) in a number of regions, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Malang, Purwokerto, Makassar and Medan.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Simultaneous student demonstrations were held on Monday (23/9/2019) in a number of regions, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Malang, Purwokerto, Makassar and Medan. The movements conveyed several demands, such as postponing the approval and passing of a number of draft laws, including the draft Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP), the Correctional Facilities Bill, the Land Bill, and the Mineral Resources and Coal (Minerba) Bill.
The student demonstrators also professed their rejection of the revised Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which the House of Representatives (DPR) approved during a plenary meeting last week for passing into law.
However, counterdemonstrations also emerged, such as the one at Jakarta’s Senayan legislative complex that supported the revised KPK Law. An altercation occurred during two separate demonstrations, one at the Senayan legislative complex and another at the West Java Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) in Bandung.
In response to the mass action, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stressed that the government would not issue a Perppu (regulation in lieu of law) to revoke the approved KPK Bill. "There is none," the President replied when asked about any plans to issue a Perppu to revoke the revised KPK Law.
However, the government granted the students’ other demands, such as postponing the RKUHP and the Land Bill. "[Deliberations] on the Minerba Bill, the Land Bill, the Penitentiary Bill, [and] the RKUHP have been postponed. This is to allow us to obtain input, better substance, in accordance with the people’s wishes," said the President.
The President added that the government\'s stance had been communicated to the House leadership at a consultative meeting on Monday at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.
President Jokowi officiated a closed-door internal meeting at the palace. Key figures in attendance at the meeting were Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, State Secretary Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Chief of Staff Moeldoko, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, National Police chief Gen. (Pol) Tito Karnavian and State Intelligence Agency head Budi Gunawan.
Moeldoko said after the meeting that the government was anticipating a dynamic situation ahead of Jokowi\'s inauguration on 20 Oct for the 2019-2024 presidential term.
Reformation
As many as 21 representatives of the Student Executive Boards (BEMs) of Indonesian universities held a meeting on Monday at the Reform Monument at Trisakti University in Jakarta.
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) chair BEM Muhammad Atiatul Muqtadir said during the occasion that one of the items on the 1998 Reform agenda was to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). Corruption was a crime against humanity that harmed the social and democratic constellations, and this awareness drove the birth of the KPK.
"But what the government and the DPR have done is to weaken the KPK, the biological child of Reform, through the revised KPK Law," said Muqtadir. Approving the revised KPK Law, he continued, coincided with the plans to approve the draft bill on correctional facilities, which could potentially offer concessionary terms for convicted corruptors. A plan also existed to ratify the RKUHP, which President Jokowi had now postponed.
"We overcame the universities’ sectoral egos to take to the streets together," said Muqtadir.
The Jakarta demonstration was centered at the Senayan legislative complex, where student representatives met with legislator-elect Andre Rosiade, House Commission III member Masinton Pasaribu and House Legislation Body (Baleg) chairman Supratman Andi Agtas.
During the meeting, University of Indonesia BEM chair Manik Marganamahendra said that the DPR was not listening to the people’s voices and demands. "We issue a declaration of no confidence in the DPR," said Manik.
Some students taking part in the Senayan demonstration began to disperse at 8:00 p.m., while others maintained a sit-in at the legislative complex.
Meanwhile, the demonstration at the West Java DPRD gradually dispersed to end around 7:30 p.m. Some students became involved in an earlier scuffle with police officers who were maintaining security in the area and broke through the entrance gate. The police used loudspeakers in calling on the demonstrators to refrain from anarchy in an attempt to calm the situation. After 6:00 p.m., the police reminded students that the legal restriction on demonstrations had passed, and the students dispersed in compliance.
In Yogyakarta, students from several universities took part in the "Gejayan Call" demonstration, gathering at the Jl. Affandi and Jl. Guru Mulia Satu intersection in Gejayan. Rico Tude, the coordinator of the Gejayan Call, said that the intersection was chosen as a public reminder of the 1998 Reformation.
The leaders of several Yogyakarta universities urged their students to avoid taking part in the Gejayan demonstration, voicing their fear that the action was driven by political interests