Labor Party Chairman Said Iqbal said that party elements of workers, fishermen, farmers, women, youth organizations and other informal workers will continue to protest the government on the latter’s policy on fuel price hike. The protests will take place in offices of governors, regents and mayors as well as the Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) buildings until September 26, 2022.
The party expects regional heads and councilors to issue a letter of recommendation to reject the increase of fuel prices as well as urging the House of Representatives (DPR) to set up a special committee reviewing the fuel price hike policy. The letter will then be sent to the House and the president.
The protests will take place on:
- September 12, 2022: Labor Party members will stage a protest at the Jakarta City Hall. Meanwhile, the Confederation of All Indonesian Trade Unions Andi Gani (KSPSI AGN) will rally in front of the DPR’s compound.
- September 13, 2022: workers, farmers and fishermen will protest at the Banten Governor office.
- September 14, 2022: massive protests in cities across Java Island
- September 15, 2022: workers, farmers and fishermen in 27 West Java cities will hold a rally
- September 19, 2022: labors will protest in cities in Riau and Riau Islands provinces, including at the governors’ offices
- September 20, 2022: workers, farmers and fishermen will protest in East Java cities and throughout Sumatra, apart from Riau and Riau Islands
- September 21, 2022: protests in 30 Central Java cities
- September 22, 2022: protests in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and the eastern part of Indonesia
- September 26, 2022: massive protests in all West Java cities, focusing in front of the governor’s office (Gedung Sate)
If the government did not respond to the demands, the protesters will hold more massive rallies in October 2022. If there was no response from the government, the party will prepare a national strike in November 2022, based on Law No. 9/1998 freedom of expression in public places. The national strike is to urge 5 million workers from more than 15,000 factories in 34 provinces to stop production.
Meanwhile, one of the activists, who did not want to be named, said that the Labor Party and its network classified the “threat” of a general strike and plans for rallies in waves and turns as sabotaging the national economy.
Unjust policies
Meanwhile, former Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) activists assessed that the government’s policy to increase fuel prices was certainly very unjust. Why?
First: The victims are the common people. They are the lower middle class. Hundreds of millions of people – especially motorcyclists, including online motorcycle taxis, as well as public transportation and commercial transportation – were impacted from the policy.
Second: The government made the decision to increase fuel prices when most people were still not fully awake. They are still economically slumped due to the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic for more than two years.
Third: The increase in fuel prices will certainly increase the people’s cost of living. The prices of necessities will rise. The reason is that transportation costs also increase automatically. As a result, the operational burden of all community economic activities also increases.
Fourth: In the midst of people’s lives that are all very difficult, the government still insists on continuing lighthouse projects which are not directly related to the interests and benefits of the people. For example, the Nusantara new capital (IKN) project and the Bandung-Jakarta Speed Train. These two projects are alleged to fulfill the interests of the oligarchs, instead of the benefit of the people. Likewise, several other infrastructure projects will cost tens or even hundreds of trillions of rupiah.
Fifth: Compensation in the form of BLT BBM provided by the government to the people is very small, which is only IDR 600,000 per beneficiary family. Only about 20 million people will receive the compensation. Of course, this is not worth the money the government sucks out of the people who are forced to buy fuel at higher prices.
Sixth: The government seems never serious, even if it never intended at all, to implement budget efficiency. Not to mention the budget leakage due to the increasingly massive corruption of state officials.
Seventh: In the view of Islam, fuel and other energy essentially belong to the people. The people are the owners of fuel, as well as energy, and all-natural resources which are abundant. The government is only authorized to manage all the property of the people. The result, of course, is entirely returned to the people and it should be in the form of cheap fuel and energy. The state should not trade with the people to search for maximum profit, especially by trading goods that belong to the people, such as fuel, electricity, gas and others.
