Indonesian students enter a new phase of struggle
By Simon Butler
The mass anti-government protests of May 1998, which forced President Suharto to resign after 32 years of dictatorial rule, were largely led by students. The student movement continued to play a key role in opposing the rule of Suharto's successor, BJ Habibie.
But since the new government of Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri took office in October, the strength and activity of the student movement has declined.
Having only been in office a short while, the new government still enjoys popular support. Many students who campaigned against the repressive and undemocratic regimes of Suharto and Habibie have been drawn in by Wahid's democratic rhetoric. Yet this is sure to change as the Wahid government carries out the same economic and repressive policies as his predecessors.
Students remain an important component in the struggle to complete the democratic revolution in Indonesia. The most radical student organisations are working closely with other sectors of society — namely workers, peasants and the urban poor.
The only nationally coordinated radical student group in Indonesia is the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), established in July when action committees across the country joined together. The LMND now has 27 affiliates across Java, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Aceh.
One of the LMND's central campaigns is to end the "dual function" of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) — to get the military out of politics.
Despite having less representation in the new parliament than before (38 positions, down from 75), the TNI still retains its territorial command structure, which means the armed forces have garrisons in every population centre, down to the smallest village. The TNI also continues to operate its own enterprises and monopolies and continues to repress street demonstrations and industrial actions.
The LMND is also seeking to mobilise students against the neo-liberal policies of the Wahid government which, under the direction of the International Monetary Fund, recently released plans to cut government subsidies to electricity, fuel and public education.
On February 1 in Jakarta, the LMND joined with a range of groups in a protest outside a meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia. The CGI represents the interests of advanced capitalist countries, including the US and Australia, and financial institutions such as the World Bank. The LMND, along with the other pro-democracy groups, called for Indonesia's debt, accumulated under the corrupt Suharto regime, to be wiped, and for the government to refuse to enter into a new loan agreement with the IMF.
One of LMND's largest affiliates is ABRI (Indonesian People's United Action), which is based in Surabaya. The acronym highlights the group's opposition to the military (which was formerly called ABRI). Originally a coalition between different campus-based student democracy groups, ABRI united in November 1998 and in mid-1999 affiliated to the LMND.
Its first action was at the Surabaya district military office, where it called for an end to military intimidation of the population, an end to the dual function of the military and for the generals to be tried by an international court for human rights abuses.
ABRI is committed to fighting sexism, racism and homophobia across society and in particular within the student movement. A gay and lesbian rights group, Adi Kreasi Gayatama, is being organised on some campuses by ABRI activists, despite being attacked by right-wing students.
The LMND and its affiliates also recognise that students cannot effect major social change alone, and they therefore seek to collaborate with other sectors. Many student activists spend a period of time "living in" with workers and assisting and learning about the emerging independent trade union movement.
The United Action of the University of Indonesia (KBUI), an affiliate of the LMND based in the country's most prestigious university, has successfully made links with and helped to organise workers. KBUI activists have also campaigned with peasant organisations, the urban poor and various progressive organisations. KBUI has a strong internationalist perspective and has mobilised students in support of the East Timorese people's right to self-determination.
The Student and People's Committee for Democracy (KOMRAD) covers several Jakarta campuses and is currently attempting to consolidate and increase the theoretical knowledge of its membership, as an important part of rebuilding the student movement. The key planks of KOMRAD's platform are: an end to the dual function of TNI; increase workers' wages; free education and land for peasants.
KOMRAD staged a hunger strike from January 27 to February 2, demanding that those Indonesian generals charged with human rights abuses in East Timor be tried by an international tribunal rather than an Indonesian court.
There are many challenges facing the student movement in Indonesia today. But many of the radical student activists have been steeled by their victory in leading the mass protests to kick out Suharto in 1998. They will be a strong part of the next generation of leaders of the people's democratic movement in Indonesia.