House obstructs fuel policy

Tony Hotland and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying that the fuel price increases were final, seven of 10 factions at the House of Representatives continue to convey their rejection of the government's policy.

Only two factions -- Susilo's own Democrat Party faction and the Democratic Pioneer Star faction -- support the government's move in increasing fuel prices by an average 29 percent on March 1.

Tuesday's plenary session -- delayed for six hours its 9 a.m. initial schedule, the result of a lengthy meeting between the House and the government the night before -- also saw the House's biggest faction, the Golkar Party, refusing to take a clear position.

The faction simply said "the government should discuss fuel price increases further, and its welfare fund with the budgetary commission".

The seven opposing factions said the government had been "careless" in not anticipating negative impacts of the fuel price increases upon the public, and for not consulting with the House.

They also said the government's mission in slashing the numbers of poor by allocating more funds to welfare programs was improper, as it only increased poverty.

These factions also attacked the government for not consulting with related House commissions in relation to the welfare funds, claiming that the policy requires revisions to the state budget.

Meanwhile, the two parties accepting the government's policy said they "understood the need for the fuel price increases due to soaring global oil prices". However, they demanded that the government ensure that poverty alleviation funds reach their intended targets, and that they devise energy saving strategies to deal with declining domestic oil output.

They also demanded that the government tightly control prices of basic commodities that may increase due to higher fuel prices.

The plenary session was colored with protests by university students, both inside and outside the House compound, causing traffic congestion along Jl. Gatot Subroto. The students demanded to be allowed to enter the plenary chamber, but were prevented from doing so by security personnel.

Protest orations were later made at the entrance of the Nusantara II building.

Strong opposition -- though small in scale and sporadic -- continues to take place across the country after the government increased fuel prices.

Earlier on Tuesday, five legislators from the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction submitted a request to the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of Presidential Regulation No. 22/2005 that ordered the fuel price rises.

They believe that the government's reasons for raising fuel prices were "unsubstantiated", and that the regulation violated laws governing the state budget and state finance.

If granted, they said the government would be required to rescind the fuel price increases and return any profits it had made since the policy took effect on March 1 to state coffers.

On Monday night, three commissions -- Commission VII on energy and mineral resources, Commission XI on finance and banking, and the budgetary commission -- expressed their opposition to the policy.

They claimed that the government could not guarantee that the much-vaunted welfare programs aimed at the poor would be successful.

They also demanded that the government make more efforts to cut back fuel consumption and to seek alternate fuels, curb fuel smuggling, and submit audit results on state oil and gas company Pertamina's production and distribution costs.

Last week, 31 legislators from seven factions submitted a petition for a House inquiry into the fuel price rises. The request is still being deliberated.

Editorial -- Page 6