House obstructs fuel policy
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