News
Planned anti-SBY protests fail to ruffle government feathers
Senin, 18 Oktober 2010 | 13:46 WIB
Jakarta, NU Online
The Jakarta Police are preparing to deploy thousands of officers in anticipation of huge protests to mark President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s year in office since being re-elected.
Several groups — including Petisi 28, an outspoken critic of the government — have threatened to hold massive street demonstrations on Wednesday.<<>br />
Protest organizers said they would use the occasion to call for Yudhoyono’s ouster over his failures as a leader.
Mahfud MD, chief justice of the Constitutional Court, urged government officials to stay calm amid the protest hype.
“They should not panic. Rallies are common. They happen every day,” Mahfud said before a meeting with Yudhoyono and other officials at the House of Representatives on Monday.
The chief justice also said he did not see “any big movements” that could lead to large-scale protests on Wednesday.
Similarly, Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Soetarman said there were no signs of a looming riot.
“I think our people are aware of conducting demonstrations peacefully,” he said. “If anarchy breaks out, when will the nation develop?”
However, Soetarman said 19,000 officers, comprising about two-thirds of the police force, would be deployed to secure demonstration sites in Jakarta.
These include the House of Representatives building, Presidential Palace, National Monument and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
Soetarman said police forces would protect the demonstrators, rather than disperse them.
“Protests are allowed by law,” he said as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. “It is part of democracy. Therefore, the police will secure it, not stand against it.”
Though the Jakarta Police have received a number of requests for rally permits, they have yet to provide an estimate of the number of people expected to join citywide demonstrations.
Top-ranking state officials, meanwhile, did not seem worried about the impending discord.
The issue was not discussed in Monday’s meeting between the president and leaders from the House, People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
According to Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, head of the executive board of the United Development Party (PPP), officials who attended the meeting discussed the “growing misperception that every problem in this country was the president’s responsibility.”
Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, a member of the Golkar Party, said there was no mention of looming protests during the gathering.
Meanwhile in Makassar, around 30 students and from the from Universitas Muslim Indonesia School of Law clashed with police on Monday, a day ahead of the president’s scheduled visit to the South Sulawesi capital.
The protesters rallied in front of their campus along Jalan Urip Sumoharjo, burning tires, blocking major roads with Pertamina fuel tankers and pelting police and their squad cars with stones.
Muhammad Ali, action coordinator of the law faculty, said Yudhoyono was not welcome in Makassar “for failing to care for his [people] better,” citing corruption cases and rights abuses.
The police arrested a 22-year-old student named Aris, and students retaliated by holding a traffic police officer hostage for three hours.
Authorities said the policeman happened to be walking in front of the campus when he was seized by the protesters. (dar)
The Jakarta Police are preparing to deploy thousands of officers in anticipation of huge protests to mark President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s year in office since being re-elected.
Several groups — including Petisi 28, an outspoken critic of the government — have threatened to hold massive street demonstrations on Wednesday.<<>br />
Protest organizers said they would use the occasion to call for Yudhoyono’s ouster over his failures as a leader.
Mahfud MD, chief justice of the Constitutional Court, urged government officials to stay calm amid the protest hype.
“They should not panic. Rallies are common. They happen every day,” Mahfud said before a meeting with Yudhoyono and other officials at the House of Representatives on Monday.
The chief justice also said he did not see “any big movements” that could lead to large-scale protests on Wednesday.
Similarly, Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Soetarman said there were no signs of a looming riot.
“I think our people are aware of conducting demonstrations peacefully,” he said. “If anarchy breaks out, when will the nation develop?”
However, Soetarman said 19,000 officers, comprising about two-thirds of the police force, would be deployed to secure demonstration sites in Jakarta.
These include the House of Representatives building, Presidential Palace, National Monument and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
Soetarman said police forces would protect the demonstrators, rather than disperse them.
“Protests are allowed by law,” he said as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. “It is part of democracy. Therefore, the police will secure it, not stand against it.”
Though the Jakarta Police have received a number of requests for rally permits, they have yet to provide an estimate of the number of people expected to join citywide demonstrations.
Top-ranking state officials, meanwhile, did not seem worried about the impending discord.
The issue was not discussed in Monday’s meeting between the president and leaders from the House, People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
According to Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, head of the executive board of the United Development Party (PPP), officials who attended the meeting discussed the “growing misperception that every problem in this country was the president’s responsibility.”
Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, a member of the Golkar Party, said there was no mention of looming protests during the gathering.
Meanwhile in Makassar, around 30 students and from the from Universitas Muslim Indonesia School of Law clashed with police on Monday, a day ahead of the president’s scheduled visit to the South Sulawesi capital.
The protesters rallied in front of their campus along Jalan Urip Sumoharjo, burning tires, blocking major roads with Pertamina fuel tankers and pelting police and their squad cars with stones.
Muhammad Ali, action coordinator of the law faculty, said Yudhoyono was not welcome in Makassar “for failing to care for his [people] better,” citing corruption cases and rights abuses.
The police arrested a 22-year-old student named Aris, and students retaliated by holding a traffic police officer hostage for three hours.
Authorities said the policeman happened to be walking in front of the campus when he was seized by the protesters. (dar)
