The disquiet which has been felt over the last two years of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's second term in office, now accompanied by Vice President Maruf Amin, was conveyed by hundreds of students from the Bandung Student Revolutionary Axis (PRMB) on Wednesday October 20.
PRMB action coordinator Ilyasa Ali Husni said that the action was an initial effort to gather ideas, studies and activate narratives on the evil of the Widodo regime over the last two years.
"Today's struggle coincides with two years since Jokowi was inaugurated. Today, those involved in our action come from various campuses which today are present in the name of the Bandung City Students", said Husni in front of the Sate building on Jalan Diponegoro in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung.
According to Husni, the action they are holding will flow onto the activation of space to resist and provide an understanding to the broader public. He admitted that these two issues were the results of a study by almamater groups.
"This action is mostly [directed towards] education and campaigns. Then efforts to present a united perspective to the public and provide news that currently Indonesia is not just okay", he said.
Thus the PRMB is asking the government to reevaluate the economy, education, land, agrarian issues, the law, policies, politics and so forth. These issues have spilled over during protest actions during the last two years of the Widodo regime.
The action is a follow up from a large student consolidation in Bandung city on October 15. The results of the consolidation was an evaluation, reflection and projection of the Bandung student movement in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and finally a joint projection for quickly manifesting the struggle.
The participants at the action came from the Indonesian Education University (UPI), the Bandung State Polytechnic (Polban), the Foreign Language College (STBA), the Pasundan University (Unpas), the Bandung Business School (Stembi), the College of Administrative Science (STIA LAN), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the Indonesian Computer University (Unikom), the Indonesian Information and Business University (Unibi), the Bandung Islamic University (Unisba), the Telkom University, the Bandung Muhammadiyah University (UMB), the Sangga Buana University YPKP (USB YPKP) and several other campuses.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "2 Tahun Jokowi-Ma'ruf, Mahasiswa Bandung: Indonesia Tidak Baik-baik Saja".]
