Legislators seek fuel hike review

Legislators seek fuel hike review

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of factions in the House of Representatives launched a
campaign on Monday for lawmakers to support a proposed
extraordinary plenary meeting to pressure the government to
review the recent fuel hike policy.

But leaders from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDIP), Indonesian Awakening Party (PKB), National Mandate Party
(PAN), and Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) said that the move would
not be effective in putting pressure on the government unless it
was supported by majority of legislators.

Deputy House Speaker Zaenal Maarif of the PAN faction sent a
letter to other deputies on Monday, calling for a consultative
meeting for Wednesday between the House leadership and faction
leaders to decide on whether to approve the extraordinary plenary
meeting proposed by the PKB.

Zaenal said that the consultation meeting would still be valid
even though House Speaker Agung Laksono, who is overseas for an
international parliamentary meeting, would not be in attendance.
Agung is also a deputy chairman of the Golkar Party, the largest
party in the House. Golkar is also the main supporter of the
government, being led by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

He was optimistic that the plenary meeting could be held this
week. "Hopefully, everything will go as planned," he said.

Another House deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar of the PKB
faction acknowledged that there had been increasing numbers of
lawmakers supporting the proposed extraordinary plenary session,
but he was concerned that there were still a large number of
legislators still outside Jakarta visiting their constituents in
the regions during the current recess period that ends on Oct.
24.

The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
earlier this month more than doubled the price of fuel products
in a bid to help ease the burden on the state budget in covering
the fuel subsidy amid soaring international oil prices. But the
policy has drawn criticism from students, some economists and
certain lawmakers who said that the fuel price increase was too
steep. Some lawmakers argued that they only approved an increase
of around 30 percent, calling the government to review the policy
as it put too much burden on ordinary people who were just
starting to recover from the devastating impact of the late 1990s
economic crisis.

The PDIP was the first to protest the fuel hike policy, and
was followed by the PKB who proposed the extraordinary plenary
session, which was immediately opposed by Agung.

Aside from Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were initial supporters of the
fuel hike policy.

Chairman of the PDIP faction Tjahyo Kumolo said the fuel price
hike and its negative impacts was a national problem because it
afflicted not only his party supporters but people all around the
country.

"All legislators should leave their own party behind and,
instead, turn their eyes and open their hearts to the people's
economic suffering. We should not continue playing the role of
rubber stamp for the government's policies," he said.

The secretary of the PKB faction, Helmi Yahya, said it was not
timely for the government to make such an unpopular decision that
brought such serious negative implications to the economy and to
people's livelihoods.

"The fuel price hike will not only double the inflation rate;
it will also simultaneously weaken people's purchasing power due
to the soaring prices of goods. The unemployment rate will rise
as businessmen will cut their own labor force for efficiency.
Last but not least, the distribution of cash aid in compensation
for the fuel price hike has raised many problems in the field,"
he said.

Tjahyo and Helmi said their factions had no objections to the
government's decision to phase out the fuel subsidy, but it
should be done gradually and in accordance with people's
purchasing power.