PRD suit against Suharto hampered
On October 18, the chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) Budiman Sujatmiko met with the National Ombudsman Commission to complain about "unprofessional" incidents by the court that have disrupted a law suit the party is pursuing against former president Suharto and 12 others.
The PRD is suing Suharto for damages of US$603,136 over the persecution of the party by the Suharto regime. On July 27, 1996, military-backed thugs attacked the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters in Jakarta killing at least 50 people. Popular outrage sparked several days of mass rioting which was blamed on the PRD. PRD members were hunted down and jailed.
30,000 plantation workers strike
As many as 30,000 plantation workers in North Sumatra went on strike on October 16 to demand that their employer, PT Perkebunan Nusantara, implement a negotiated work agreement. Two thousand workers held a lively demonstration at the provincial parliament in Medan.
The leader of the Plantation Workers' Union, Josem Ginting, according to a report in Detik, said there were at least 14 points in the agreement which have not been implemented. Detik said the workers had planned to rally for three days and came prepared, with stoves, pans and sleeping mats.
15,000 strike at electrical factory
Some 15,000 workers from the electrical manufacturing company PT Maspion in Surabaya, East Java, continued a strike for a second day on October 19.
Workers are demanding an increase in allowances from Rp3000 (US33 cents) to Rp 6000. The company has only agreed to an increase of Rp300 (3 cents). Protesters vowed to continue the strike pending the outcome of further negotiations.
A worker interviewed by Detik said the average worker earned only Rp288,000 (US$32.54) per month including overtime and other allowances.
Students protest Wahid's anniversary
On October 19, the first anniversary of Abdurrahman Wahid's becoming Indonesian president — 100 students rallied outside the Presidential Palace in Jakarta to demand that he resign for failing to enact democratic and economic reforms.
Associated Press reported that the organisers accused Wahid of using economic changes prescribed by international lenders to make deals with rich business interests at the expense the ordinary people who are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis.
Students from the Jakarta State Institute of Islamic Studies also staged a protest at the palace. The Jakarta Post reported that the students stated that Wahid had taken the country further away from the goal of reform and was now following in the footsteps of Suharto's New Order regime.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students from various universities in Jakarta staged a protest at the parliament demanding that Wahid resign from his leading position in the Jewish Shimon Peres Foundation in response to Israel's violence against Palestinian protesters.
Later in the afternoon, another student rally at the presidential palace called on Wahid to stop making compromises with the New Order regime and to eject the military from the parliament. The protesters accused the Wahid administration of being closely connected to the New Order regime and the military.