Indonesia workers protest fuel price rise

[struggle4progress]

JAKARTA: Hundreds of Indonesian bus drivers, vendors and factory workers staged a noisy rally in Jakarta today to protest against the government's plan to increase fuel prices.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled a plan on Wednesday to raise fuel prices in order to support the weakening rupiah which plunged to a four-year low last week as oil prices surged.

Domestic fuel is heavily subsidised by the government.

Raising fuel prices has been a politically sensitive issue in the past, triggering widespread demonstrations against governments including that of former president Suharto who was forced to step down in 1998. <snip>

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