Thousands protest fuel price plan

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 05/13/2008 10:39 AM  |  Headlines

FUELING PROTEST: Hundreds of students from several universities in Makassar, South Sulawesi, rally Monday at the provincial legislative council building. The students denounced the government's plan to raise fuel prices. (JP/Andi Hajramun)

Thousands of students across the country took to the streets Monday in opposition to fight the government's plan to raise fuel prices.

More than 1,000 students from various groups and universities across the country picketed the State Palace in Jakarta to pressure the government to reconsider its fuel policy. They arrived at the meeting point in stages, beginning around 11 a.m.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in Surabaya, East Java, to commemorate National Education Day at Airlangga University, when the sea of students gathered outside his office under the close watch of police. Officers were forced to detour traffic because the protesters occupied the road.

Although smaller in number, the rally was reminiscent of a wave of student demonstrations in May 1998 that led to the resignation of then president Soeharto after 32 years in power.

In Tangerang, a group of students blockaded a gas station for over an hour en route to the State Palace. In Surabaya, police arrested a student from Sunan Ampel State Islamic Institute following a skirmish as protesters broke through a security cordon at Airlangga University.

Some students demanded the President step down for failing to solve national problems, including the soaring prices of basic commodities and the high cost of education.

During the National Education Day commemoration, Airlangga University students presented President Yudhoyono their proposed solutions to corruption, unemployment, and poor law enforcement and governance in the country.

Demands for Yudhoyono's resignation also were heard in Yogyakarta, as thousands of students marched to the provincial legislature to seek support for their fight against fuel price increases and for the completion of the reform agenda.

"Raising fuel prices means the government of SBY-JK is breaking its own promise to bring prosperity to the country. We demand they step down if they go ahead with their plan," rally coordinator Haris said, referring to President Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

In the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, about 1,000 students gathered outside the provincial legislative building to demand the government seek alternatives to raising fuel prices, including the recovery of state assets stolen by businesspeople who received Bank Indonesia liquidity support in the late 1990s.

Rallies also occurred in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan and Pekanbaru in Riau, major oil producing provinces.

Amid noisy student rallies against fuel price increases, housewives in some areas in Bandung lined up to buy kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. Some of the women said the two commodities had become scarce in the last two weeks, and their prices had doubled.

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