Legislators submit petition rejecting utility price rises<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Legislators ate their words on Monday when they demanded the
\ngovernment to reverse its decision on the utility price hikes,
\ndespite the fact that they had agreed to the increases in the
\nfirst place.<\/p>\n
Dozens of intra-faction legislators submitted a petition to
\nthe House of Representatives (DPR) plenary meeting on Monday
\nurging the legislative body to tell the government to cancel its
\ndecision to increase electricity and telephone rates and remove
\nthe fuel subsidy.<\/p>\n
The House had in principle agreed to the increases when it
\nendorsed the 2003 National Development Program (Propernas) and
\nstate budget last year.<\/p>\n
The legislators -- some of the initiators came from President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI Perjuangan) -- also urged the government to cancel the
\nrelease and discharge scheme for big debtors and stop depending
\non the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international
\ninstitutions to revive the country's economy.<\/p>\n
\"The government's decisions to increase utility prices and to
\nrelease big debtors are clearly detrimental to the majority of
\nIndonesians,\" legislator Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said when reading
\nout the petition in the first House plenary meeting in 2003 here
\non Monday.<\/p>\n
The government raised telephone and electricity rates and
\nremoved the fuel subsidy on Jan. 1 to finance the country's
\nbudget and reduce the budget deficit, which had been funded with
\nforeign financing, especially from the IMF.<\/p>\n
The announcement, however, met with strong protests from trade
\nunions, students and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who
\nargued that the simultaneous increases would further burden the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
It also hurt the people's sense of justice as the increases
\ntook effect after the government issued a presidential
\ninstruction endorsing the release and discharge scheme for big
\ndebtors, under which debtors who have fulfilled their obligations
\nto the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) are exempt
\nfrom criminal charges.<\/p>\n
Trade unions and students as well as NGOs have been organizing
\nstreet rallies against the prices hikes, with some calling for
\nthe ouster of both Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
The PDI Perjuangan faction at the House urged Megawati on
\nMonday to reverse the decision on the telephone rate hike but
\nsupported the increases in electricity and fuel prices.<\/p>\n
A number of noted politicians, trade unions and student groups
\nheld a meeting over the weekend to discuss ways on how to unseat
\nMegawati, who took over the national leadership in July 2001
\nafter members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
\nimpeached then president Abdurrahman Wahid for incompetence.<\/p>\n
On Monday evening, MPR chairman Amien Rais met with his
\ndeputies and they agreed that the government had to annul the
\nutility price hikes.<\/p>\n
However, Amien, who was at the forefront in ousting
\nAbdurrahman in 2001, conceded that the MPR, the country's highest
\nlegislative body, does not have the power to impeach a president
\nor vice president.<\/p>\n
Under the amended 1945 Constitution, only the House, with the
\nconsent of the constitutional court, has the authority to impeach
\na president. The constitutional court has yet to be established.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Monday that the House
\nwould host a consultation meeting with the three coordinating
\nministers of Megawati's Cabinet on Wednesday to discuss the
\nutility price hikes.<\/p>\n
But the government hinted on Monday that they may not show up
\nat the meeting as the House failed to follow procedures for
\nholding a meeting.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul
\nMu'arif said that the proposal should be brought to the House
\nconsultative body before it called for a consultation meeting
\nwith the government.<\/p>\n
\"If the meeting is held in accordance with House regulations,
\nthe government will comply. We will not respond if it goes
\nagainst procedures,\" Syamsul said after the Cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
\"We do not want to set a bad precedent,\" the minister said
\nwithout elaborating.<\/p>\n
He further said that the decision to summon the three
\ncoordinating ministers was made when the House was still in
\nrecess and the government had yet to receive a formal invitation
\nfor the meeting.<\/p>\n
\"We do mind about fulfilling the request as it was not done in
\nline with the House's internal regulations,\" Syamsul, who is a
\nformer legislator from the Golkar party, said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-submit-petition-rejecting-utility-price-rises-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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