'Legislators fight for own interests'

Factions in the House of Representatives clashed last week over the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an average of 29 percent. What were they fighting for? The Jakarta Post asked some Jakarta residents what they thought were the reasons behind the incident.

Edo, 22, a student of school of economics at the University of Indonesia (UI) who lives in Pasar Minggu subdistrict, South Jakarta.

I don't think the current bickering in the House is for the sake of people's interests.

Those legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle are automatically would not strongly oppose the fuel price hike if the president was Megawati Soekarnoputri,while legislators of the National Awakening Party (PKB) would not oppose the decision if it was made by Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid).

So, their own political interests are behind the recent shameful action in the House of Representatives.

I think Indonesians will not be confused by their actions. They already known that politicians always use any opportunity to advance their own interests.

I did not vote in the most recent elections and I will not vote in the next elections because I do not believe in politicians.

Anwar, 35, a street vendor at Lebak Bulus bus station, South Jakarta. He lives in a rented house in Ciputat district in Tangerang.

Well, I don't know the reason for the legislators' bickering. Maybe they really want to express the aspirations of the people who are affected by the recent fuel price hikes. Maybe, they are only trying to attract the people's attention.

But I will say that this sort of behavior is a bad example for the young generation.

I think, most of the people in the House of Representatives are educated people. They should not act like students of a junior or senior high school. They should solve their problems in a wiser way.

I hope that such an incident will not happen again in the future. They must give a good example to the young people.

Frankly speaking, I am disappointed with the recent fuel price hike as I am among those affected by the policy. But I do not agree that the legislators should solve the problem through fighting.