Thousands of people took part in coordinated rallies across the country on Sunday to protest what they said was the government's poor performance and failure to provide basic services.

The nationwide protests were organized by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a conservative Islamic organization that managed to draw an estimated 8,000 people to the Jakarta protest alone, held outside the State Palace.

"We're very concerned about the government's failure to provide basic services for the people and improve their welfare, uphold the supremacy of the law and protect state assets," HTI spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

"There are still many Indonesians living below the poverty line, even though the numbers show an improvement."

Ismail also cited the government's flagging anticorruption drive as a cause for concern.

"How can there be 148 regional heads implicated in graft, not to mention all the other lower public officials?" he asked. "Corruption seems to breed yet more corruption, as in the case of the tax mafia, which spans the police force, prosecutors, courts and lawyers."

He also railed against higher rates of sexual promiscuity among teenagers and what he called the takeover of Indonesia's natural resources by foreign players.

A similar protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi, attracted 1,500 people calling for a Shariah form of government, according to Metrotvnews.com.

Thousands of HTI supporters also turned up in Bandung and Padang to take the government to task over issues ranging from high food prices to the gradual deregulation of the oil and gas sector. (Agencies)