Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Hundreds of students in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang held a protest action on Thursday October 20 to mark the second year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono’s administration.
The action began in front of the Baiturahman Mosque in the Simpang Lima area. The alliance of students from the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII), the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), the Islamic Students Association (HMI) and the Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI) then held a long-march to the Videotron traffic circle on Jl. Pahlawan around 500 metres away.
In addition to banners, posters and organisational flags, the students at the front of the march also carried a ‘corpse’ wrapped in a shroud with the writing ‘the corpse of the government’. Throughout the march the students distributed leaflets containing a statement.
At the Videotron traffic circle the protesters took turns giving speeches in which they stated that October 20 was the perfect moment to reflect upon the Yudhoyono-Boediono leadership. “Because today, two years ago, SBY and Boediono became president and vice president”, said action coordinator Muhammad Harir.
Other speakers said that the government had failed to take the people in a better direction saying that poverty has yet to be overcome and corruption is still rampant. “The recent [cabinet] reshuffle that was carried out was just lip service”, said one speaker accompanied by shouts from the other protesters.
Satisfied with giving speeches, the demonstrators moved off to the Central Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) located around 100 metres away. After waiting for several minutes and giving speeches, the students were met by DPRD representatives. They then handed over the ‘corpse’ to DPRD member Novita Wijayanti.
Although the action disrupted the flow of traffic to some extend, the protest proceeded in an orderly fashion with police closely guarding the students from start to finish. (try/anw)
Source: Peringati 2 Tahun SBY-Boediono, Mahasiswa Semarang Gotong ‘Mayat’ – detikNews. Kamis, 20/10/2011
[Translated by James Balowski.]
