Govt plays down threat of fuel price hike protests

Andi Hajramurni and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar

The government has played down warnings that anti-fuel price increase protests could escalate and threaten domestic security conditions, saying that rallies continue to be staged in an orderly manner.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said that demonstrations were part and parcel of democracy.

"The demonstrations against the fuel price hike are still within an acceptable range," Widodo said following a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top government officials to discuss the political climate and prevailing security conditions.

Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Ermaya Suradinata warned on Monday that intensifying anti-fuel hike demonstrations nationwide could lead to security problems.

Speaking at a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I for defense and foreign affairs, Ermaya said the government must implement a more effective campaign for the public to fully comprehend the policy.

The government raised early in March fuel prices by an average of 29 percent to cut fuel subsidies, which had become particularly burdensome amid soaring international oil prices. The move was necessary to avoid serious fiscal trouble, government officials said.

The government has promised to provide funds to help low-income families mitigate the impact of the fuel price increase by providing cheap rice, free education, and health services. But despite the facility, students, politicians, and other groups continue to protest the policy.

Some analysts say that the demonstrations over the past few weeks are comparable to those faced by Megawati Soekarnoputri, who backed down from plans to raise the price of fuel in 2003.

Raising fuel prices has been a politically sensitive issue in the country, which saw the fall of Soeharto in 1998 after he raised fuel prices at the request of the International Monetary Fund, which at the time was helping the country out of the late 1990s regional crisis.

Meanwhile, demonstrations against the fuel price increase policy continued on Tuesday in some major cities.

In Jakarta, hundreds of university students staged a rally outside the House of Representatives building. They demanded that the House, which was meeting to decide members' stance on the issue, take firm action against the government.

In the same place, hundreds of women who called themselves the Indonesia Democracy Srikandi (SDI) also staged a rally against the fuel price increase.

They demanded that the government retract its policy.

Meanwhile, hundreds of university students in Makassar staged a rally outside the South Sulawesi Council building, expressing their opposition to the fuel price hike.

Some of them burned tires and boxes, causing minor damage to the building.

Another rally was conducted by groups of students at a separate location in Makassar.

Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Adji Rustam Ramdja said that the police would investigate the damage to the council building by demonstrators, but asserted that they would not be prohibited from demonstrating.

In Jember, East Java, a number of members of the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement also held a rally to express their opposition to the fuel price increase, outside the Jember council building.