Jakarta – The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono is already facing a heavy challenge as it approaches the first year of its second term in office on October 20.
The reason being that student, worker and urban poor organisations are already preparing to take to the streets to demonstrate at the State Palace with the demand “SBY step down!”.
The Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM), according to coordinator Budi Wardoyo, has already carried out a series of consolidations to gather together workers to take to the street along with students and ordinary people to coincide with Yudhoyono and Boediono’s first year.
“Our preparations have not just been carried out in the greater Jakarta area, but also in Yogyakarta [Central Java], Surabaya [East Java], North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, Makassar [South Sulawesi], Ternate [North Maluku] and other cities. We will hold actions at symbols of power, Regional House of Representatives as well as local government offices”, he said
In Jakarta, continued Yoyok – as Wardoyo is called – it is estimated that tens of thousands of demonstrators from labour, student and urban poor organisation will hold an action that will culminate at the State Palace.
“We no longer trust SBY, we no longer trust the parliament to carry out an impeachment. We do not want this people’s movement to be taken over by the parliament. Essentially, the people do not trust SBY-Boediono or the parliament”, he exclaimed.
Yoyok said the reason for this is that up until now Yudhoyono and Boediono have been little more than foreign puppets, so they have to be overthrown by a people’s movement.
During the planned action, workers will be rejecting revisions to Law Number 13/2003 on Labour and the privatisation of state-owned industries, demanding the development of the national industry and the nationalisation of mining and gas industries under the control of the people, opposing low wages and calling for free education and healthcare (imam)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
