Jakarta – Hundreds of students burned tyres and pictures of President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday when protests against fuel, telephone and electricity price hikes were held in 10 Indonesian towns and cities.
It was the second consecutive day of demonstrations against the rises, which have been approved by the Parliament to meet demands by Indonesia's foreign creditors for fiscal belt-tightening. Most of the protests were small, however, and there were no reports of violence.
In the central Sulawesi capital, Palu, students burned pictures of the president and tyres outside the governor's office and the local council building, witnesses said. Reports put the number of demonstrators at between 300 and 1,000.
Demonstrators took to the streets in nine other towns and cities, reports said, including the capital Jakarta, the east Javanese city of Surabaya and Medan on Sumatra island.
The government has said it has no plans to overturn the hikes, which bumped up prices for some gasoline products by 22 per cent, and raised electricity and telephone charges by an average of 6 and 15 per cent respectively.
The increases in turn have pushed up prices for basic foodstuffs, adding to the misery of millions of Indonesians living in poverty.
Previous fuel price rises have led to violent protests across the country, which is still suffering from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
Some labour and transportation activists have threatened to stage nationwide strikes unless the government reverses the rises.
Local branches of Indonesia's two main Islamic organisations in the densely populated province of East Java also called for the hikes to be reviewed yesterday.
"This move is to prevent anarchy from breaking out in East Java. We all know how hard life is already for most people," said Mr Ali Maschan Musa, chairman of the East Java chapter of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Mr Musa said his chapter had asked NU national leaders to protest to the government and demand that the rises be reviewed.
Mr Fasich, chairman of the East Java chapter of Indonesia's second largest Islamic movement Muhammadiyah, said his organisation was doing the same thing. "We want the government, in a fair and wise way, to review the decision so that it does not add to the burden of the people who are economically already in limbo," he said.
Kerosene, widely used by the poor for cooking, remains heavily subsidised for domestic use. The government has allocated 3.1 trillion rupiah (S$600 million) as financial aid for the poor to compensate for the price rises.
It says the fuel subsidies mainly benefited the better-off and encouraged smuggling to other countries.