Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Arientha Primanita – Civil society groups on Monday castigated the government over its plan to raise the fuel price next month, accusing officials of using dirty tricks to divert attention from the issue and weaken opposition to it.

Gunawan, chairman of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice, said on Monday that the government would violate the Constitution if it went ahead with plans to increase the price of subsidized fuel from Rp 4,500 to Rp 6,000 (50 cents to 65 cents) per liter.

That's because the Constitution directs the state to protect the people's welfare. He took this to mean that welfare should not be left to market forces. "That's why the government has to regulate the fuel price," Gunawan said.

Uchok Sky Khadafi, a coordinator for the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said the government should revise its 2012 budget to keep the fuel subsidy intact.

Uchok said too much money had been allocated for routine expenditures, with that figure accounting for 51 percent of the Rp 1,418 trillion proposed budget, while development funds comprised only about 12 percent of planned spending.

"A state budget like this is not healthy," Uchok said. "There is too much allocation for bureaucratic spending. It's better to use the money for the fuel subsidy."

The police said they would investigate allegations President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made in a speech on Sunday claiming there was a group aiming to unseat him before his term ended in 2014. But others dismissed the allegation as an effort to divert attention from the fuel issue.

Yudhoyono told a meeting of Democratic Party officials that the group opposing him was seeking to politicize the subsidy cut for its own ends.

To neutralize the impact of the plan on the people on low incomes, the government has proposed cash aid for the poor. But critics have dismissed the plan as a short-term fix whose real purpose is to curry political favor ahead of the 2014 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy, strongly denied accusations that a meeting he recently convened with 12 university rectors was called to talk about curbing student protests against the subsidy limits and that he had offered the rectors travel packages.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha also denied rumors that Yudhoyono was planning to take several student leaders with him on an official visit to China on Thursday.