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span class="inline inline-left">Fuel rally: Students stage a rally outside the office of state-owned oil company Pertamina in Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday. The students protested the government’s plan to increase the price of fuel, urging the West Java administration to reject the central government’s policy. Antara/Agus BebengPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned on Wednesday that security authorities would crack down hard on street protests against the planned fuel price hikes if they turned violent.

“The security authorities will be stern in their response if the protests in the country go beyond tolerable limits, turn anarchic, are destructive, break the law or are unconstitutional or harm other citizens,” Yudhoyono said in his speech at the inauguration of the new headquarters of pharmaceutical company PT Tempo Scan Pacific.

Yudhoyono said that severe measures against violent protest would be important to maintain the security conditions conducive to economic growth.

“We need to prolong the current domestic situation that is conducive to improving our welfare. A peaceful country with a population feeling secure is the key to increase growth,” he said.

Top security officials discussed plans earlier this week to deal with possible security problems that may result from planned mass rallies against the government’s plan to hike fuel prices.

The officials have also prepared steps to deal with any plot to topple Yudhoyono.

Democrat politicians have pointed the finger at the chairman of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) Gen. (ret) Wiranto as the mastermind behind a putative unconstitutional transfer of power.

Wiranto has categorically denied the allegations.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said that efforts would also be taken to curb fuel hoarding ahead of April 1, when the government is expected to raise the price of fuel.

Djoko said that the police, the intelligence community and the Indonesian Military [TNI] had begun carrying out covert surveillance operations to deal with illegal stockpiling and smuggling.

The government is currently mulling two options aimed at preventing soaring global oil prices from further burdening the state budget.

The options are to raise subsidized fuel prices by Rp 1,500 (16 US cents) per liter, or to limit the subsidies to Rp 2,000 per liter. At Rp 4,500, premium gasoline is currently subsidized by about Rp 3,500 per liter.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) is questioning the government’s plan to deploy troops at public rallies against the anticipated fuel price increases.

“The TNI is the nation’s military and it should not be used as a means of dealing with members of the public expressing their criticism of government policies,” Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said in a press release on Tuesday.

Haris said that the government should have considered the likely public reactions to its plan to increase fuel prices, given that the policy would increase prices while the public, at the same time, would see no significant improvement in public services.

On Monday, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto invited top security officials to a meeting amid rumors that a massive rally would take place in the coming days and the unconfirmed reports about a plot to topple President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.