Ulfa Ilyas, Jakarta – Around 80 people gathered together under the banner of the National front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI) and held another demonstration at ExxonMobil and the national parliament building to demanded that the government cancel the increase in the price of fuel, nationalise the mining industry and repudiate the foreign debt. In addition to this they also called on the Indonesian people to not elect again those political parties that are pro-foreign interests and parties that are supporters of the fuel price rise and oppose the parliamentary investigations committee in the fuel price rise – the parties in the SBY and Yusuf Kalla government (Demokrat and Golkar).

In a speech to the rally, Dedi Fauzi spokesperson for the FNPBI action said that workers and the poor people wanted the government to abolish the fuel price rise and protect national industry. If the state took over the mining companies that are currently run by foreign interests, then an independent economy can be achieved and there would be no difficulty in fulfilling the economic demands of the workers.

Katarina Pujiastuti, assistant head of the FNPBI, said in an interview that 85% of Indonesia's mining sector is controlled by foreign interests and the workers were here to demand that the parliamentary investigation committee into fuel price rises (which was to be formed the next day) analyse the domination by foreign capital of the mining industry because the energy crisis lies there.

With the increase in the price of fuel, workers face several challenges: 1. Wages have not kept up with the increase in cost of living. 2. Domestic industry, which local employers and workers depend on for their livelihoods, are badly hit by the rise in fuel prices. In these conditions, workers and local businesses do not have many choices except to struggle for the cancellation of the fuel price increase and the rescue of national industry, she said.

After the action at Exxon Mobil, the demonstrators continued their action taking it to the national parliament with the same demands. On arrival there they shouted out their demands, sang songs of struggle and made political speeches.

[Source: Berdakiri translated by Rebecca Meckelberg.]