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Indonesian protests challenge Megawati
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Demonstrations are continuing for a fourth straight day in Indonesia on Thursday with businessmen and employees set to join students, labor and political groups to protest recent price hikes. While students have made up the bulk of demonstrators in earlier rallies this week, calls for larger protests, including a national strike on Thursday, are being met with the private sector joining the fray for the first time. The protesters are angry over steep rises in fuel and utility charges handed down by the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Fuel prices rose by up to 22 percent on January 2 as the government sought to reduce fuel subsidies and also contain Indonesia's budget deficit. Also up were electricity charges by six percent, with three more quarterly six percent increases to follow later this year. Telephone charges also shot up, increasing by an average of 15 percent. The government has allocated a 3.1 trillion rupiah ($346 million) financial aid package to help compensate the poor for the price rises. Analysts say a continuation of the protests could fuel political rallying against Megawati's economic policies by her opponents.
They also say that support from the business sector could be viewed as a showing of slipping support for the government's economic initiatives. The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it supports the protests from the business sector, adding that it urged the government to implement the price hikes in stages rather than simultaneously. Those comments add to growing calls for the price rises to be cancelled. At the height of the financial crisis in 1998, sharp rises in the cost of fuel triggered rioting that contributed to the fall of then-President Suharto.
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