JAKARTA, 06 August 2002 - Water cannons dispersed thousands of protesters who stormed the gates of Indonesia's parliament and demanded sweeping constitutional reforms, including the right of voters to elect the president directly and an end to the military's official role in politics. It was the third straight day of demonstrations in front of the heavily guarded parliament where the country's supreme legislature is holding its annual two-week meeting. About 7,000 people, mostly students, demanded the 700-member body introduce direct presidential elections and eliminate a block of 38 seats reserved for representatives of the security forces.
"We must have reforms or die," demonstrators chanted. Police strung razor wire behind the main gates to prevent the protesters from entering the compound. When they pushed against the main gate and began throwing plastic water bottles at officers, three water cannons were used to disperse them. There were no injuries or arrests, and the demonstration ended peacefully.
The People's Consultative Assembly is considering several changes to the country's 1945 Constitution as part of the session, which ends Monday. These include eliminating the assembly's role as an electoral college that decides who will be head of state. Instead, reformers want a popular election held every five years. Many Indonesians say that a transformation from military dictatorship to democracy cannot be achieved if the armed forces retain a high profile and official role within politics.
There is general agreement to phase out the unelected seats as part of efforts to encourage civilian control over the military. However, there is widespread disagreement over how quickly this should occur and current plans call for the army to retain the 38 seats until 2009. While the protest was going on outside the building, a military representative told a legislative panel that the armed forces would leave politics as planned. "The (military) faction is aware of the growing need for democratization, decentralization and demilitarization," Slamet Supriyadi said.

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