Ilham M, Jakarta – The coordinator of the United Opposition Front (Barisan Oposisi Bersatu, BOB), Dita Indah Sari, says that the dismissal of the Makassar provincial police chief does not mean that the bloody Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) incident in South Sulawesi has been resolved. Sari made this statement during a break in an action by the BOB at the University of Indonesia campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on May 3.

According to Sari, the demands of the UMI student comrades were clear, in their action they rejected a presidential candidate from the military yet the Makassar police responded with repression. The UMI case further convinces us of the dangers to democracy if the military return to power in the future, so BOB is therefore calling on all elements of the democratic movement to unit to block the reemergence of the military in Indonesia.

The emergence of [former armed forces chief] Wiranto and [recently resigned coordinating minister of politics and security] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as presidential candidates has resulted in a huge reaction from a number of different parties.

Also present at the action were a number of non-government organisations, political parties and students. Iwan D. Laksono, the general chairperson of the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), said that Wiranto, SBY and President Megawati Sukarnoputri are already guilty of committing human rights violations. Laksono said that SBY’s greatest sin was over the Aceh question because when he was the coordinating minister for politics and security and Megawati was president, Aceh became a military operation zone after it was declared to be under a state of martial law.

[Translated by James Balowski.]