Kalla defends fuel price increase

Kalla defends fuel price increase

INDONESIA: Vice President Jusuf Kalla has defended the government's unpopular fuel increase in front of thousands of Golkar Party members, saying the government could no longer maintain the costly fuel subsidy for rich car owners.

Kalla, who is also the Golkar leader, acknowledged that the fuel price increase was difficult for many people, but it was unavoidable to help create a healthy fiscal condition and end the injustice whereby the rich benefited more from the subsidy.

"(We're) very sorry that for a better future, people have to undergo a bitter experience now. But a sick person will not recover without taking the bitter pill," he said in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Kalla was on a two-day visit to Sumatra to open a series of Golkar Party regional meetings ahead of the country's first direct regional elections in June.

A number of political parties and groups of students have demanded the government cancel the fuel price increase. The House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a plenary session to respond to the fuel policy on Monday. -- JP