[Nasional-e] [Nasional] IBRAHIM ISA -- SELECTED INDONESIAN NEWS -- 10 JAN 03

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GOVERNMENT STICKS TO PRICE HIKES POLICY

N.U. --  URGE MEGAWATI TO ARREST BIG CORRUPTORS

WORKERS AND STUDENTS STAGE PROTES AT MERDEKA PALACE
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Jakarta Post, 10 Jan 03.
Turning a deaf ear on mounting protests against the recent increase in
utility prices, the government said on Thursday it would not back down from
the policy, but pledged to minimize the impact on poor people.

"Until now, there have been no decisions or plans to revise the (utility
hikes) policy," Syamsul Muarif, State Minister for Communications and
Information, told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

Syamsul was quick to add, however, that to help the poor cope with the
impacts of the policy, the government would speed up the implementation of
measures aimed at easing the burden of the people under the Rp 4 trillion
(about US$450 million) compensation program.

"To help ease the burden, in Jakarta, the distribution of the (heavily
subsidized) rice for the poor will start tomorrow (Friday), and other
actions will soon follow suit," he said, without specifying the volume of
the rice to be distributed.

Under the compensation program, the government has promised to provide cheap
rice, as well as subsidies for education and health care services, for poor
families.

Elsewhere, Syamsul also said a thorough assessment would be made on the
impact of the utility price hikes on the business sector, and the measures
the government could take to minimize the effect. -- JP ***
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N.U. URGE MEGAWATI TO ARREST BIG CORRUPTORS


The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,10.01.03

Amid rising public apprehension over various perceived injustices, a leading
Muslim leader urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday to take
drastic measures to arrest big-time corruptors and confiscate their wealth
to satisfy the public's sense of justice.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with the President, Hasyim Muzadi,
chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
said that the simultaneous utility price hikes had wounded the public's
sense of justice as, at the same time, the government planned to exonerate
large debtors from possible criminal charges.

"The government took into account only economic considerations but forgot
the noneconomic factor -- the public's sense of justice.

"Economically, the government has considered that these utility price hikes
are necessary .... On the other hand, it is letting the corruptors get away
without punishment.

"In this case, the government must be tough in arresting corruptors and
taking the (corrupted) money back. Don't raise prices here while letting
leakages continue unplugged in other places," Hasyim told reporters after a
one-hour meeting with Megawati.

The meeting was the first since Megawati became president in July 2001.

Megawati's government has been under attack for its policy of raising fuel
prices, telephone and electricity rates effective this month and for its
release and discharge policy, which frees a number of the country's largest
debtors from possible criminal charges.

Hasyim also suggested that the government reschedule the utility price
hikes.

"It's now up to the President. All we can do now is just wait and see," he
said.

When asked about Megawati's response to his suggestion, Hasyim said that
Megawati only gave a short answer: "God willing, I will think about it."

A number of experts gave support on Thursday to Hasyim's calls for the
government to take drastic measures to restore the public's sense of
justice.

Economist Didik J. Rachbini also urged the government to seize the assets of
bad debtors who owed trillions of rupiah to the government.

"If the government wishes to cover its state budget deficit, it must force
the former bank owners to meet their obligations to pay all their debts, and
not raise utility prices, which will place a greater burden on the already
weakened people," Didik said.

Former bank owners received some Rp 114.5 trillion (US$12.7 billion) in
liquidity loans from the government following the 1997 economic crisis, to
avoid the bankruptcy of the ailing banks. Only a portion of this money has
ever been returned.

Didik said, as an example, that the Salim group, which owed some Rp 52.7
trillion to the government, had repaid only about Rp 20 trillion and yet the
government wanted to grant release and discharge status.

"Of course this will hurt the public's sense of justice; it will make people
angry with the government," he said.

For this reason, Didik said, it would only be logical for the government to
cancel its release and discharge policy.

Meanwhile, Imam B. Prasodjo, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia,
called on the government to boost law enforcement by sending high-ranking
officials or influential figures convicted of corruption or human rights
violations to jail.

A number of high-ranking officials still enjoy freedom, pending their appeal
decisions. They include House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung,
former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares, former Dili Military
commander Lt. Col. Soedjarwo and former East Timor paramilitary leader
Eurico Gutterres.

Another important thing that the government needed to do, according to Imam,
was to stop high-ranking officials or their spouses from holding lavish
parties, such as that thrown by Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas in
celebration of his 60th birthday in Bali on the last day of 2002.

Such drastic measures, Imam and Didik said, were needed to help reduce
public disappointment over the various injustices and the recent utility
price increases.

"People will continue to oppose the prices hikes and other government
policies if the government fails to assuage public disappointment," Imam
told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. ********

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WORKERS AND STUDENTS STAGE PROTES AT MERDEKA PALACE

Maria Endah Hulupi and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, 10 JAN 03

Thousands of workers and students staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace,
Central Jakarta, on Thursday to demand that the government annul the utility
price hikes introduced on the first day of the new year.

"Bring down the prices, reduce electricity and telephone tariffs," the
workers shouted in front of the tightly-guarded compound.

The government raised electricity and telephone tariffs on Jan. 1 and
removed fuel subsidies as part of its efforts to finance the state budget
and reduce deficits.

The workers, however, charged that the simultaneous price hikes would bring
more suffering to the people whose purchasing power had diminished since the
economic crisis struck the country in 1997.

"The government has to review this policy...decrease the utility prices, or
you two (Megawati and Hamzah Haz) have to step down," a protester yelled,
waving a banner that read: "Increasing prices means killing the people".

Over 500 police personnel were deployed to monitor the protests, including
around 200 police who stood guard in front of Merdeka Palace.

"Megawati-Hamzah Haz, use your brains," read one placard. Calls have been
mounting for the pair to resign.

"The government has to cancel their stupid decision to raise the price of
fuel," a protester shouted through a megaphone.

The House of Representatives approved the increases last year to meet
demands by foreign creditors for fiscal belt-tightening. Some estimates say
the higher prices could throw as many as three million people into poverty
by the subsequent rise in the prices of food and transportation.

Aside from workers and students, youth wings of some political parties also
took part in the rally, displaying the biggest challenge so far to the
leadership of Megawati, who took over as president in July 2001.

The protesters would have entered the grounds of Merdeka Palace had the
police not placed a barbed wire barrier along Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara.

A scuffle broke out when police from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit
attacked a vehicle carrying the protester's sound system. Two students and
one security officer reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Dita Indah Sari, a labor activist from the National Front for the Struggle
of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI), deplored the fact that the government had
ignored the plight of the middle and lower classes and turned a deaf ear to
public demands.

"It's a declaration of war. The government is challenging the public to bow
to its (unpopular) decisions," she said, adding that such decisions forced
the public to express their dissatisfaction through inappropriate means.

FNPBI and other elements of society, Dita said, were planning to seize gas
stations belonging to Megawati's husband, businessman Taufik Kiemas, as a
symbolic act of public resistance against Megawati's government, and to
occupy State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and use the food stored there to feed
the poor.

"We fully support their moves to take over control of such strategic
facilities," she added.

"The price hike is insupportable. We cannot cope with the increased living
costs," said Maladi, one of the 150 protesters grouped under the Solidarity
of National Workers (Sopan), affiliated to Amien Rais's National Mandate
Party (PAN).

By late afternoon, most of the Jakarta demonstrators had dispersed.

"We will continue to hold protests until the government responds to our
demands. Otherwise, we won't be able to eat three times a day and we will
refuse to pay taxes, electricity and the telephone bills," Maladi said. ***

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