Lawmakers accused of duplicity in deciding fuel policy

Members of the House of Representatives have been heavily criticized for their behavior during the prolonged plenary session on Friday evening to determine whether the country would increase fuel prices on April 1.
A political psychologist from the University of Indonesia (UI), Hamdi Moeloek, said that lawmakers only cared for their political interests in spite of their constant claims to represent the public’s concerns.
He referred to the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), saying that both parties double-crossed the Democratic Party (PD)-led ruling coalition by taking vague stances during the session.
“On the one hand, PKS politicians are trying to gain public sympathy with their move but I think our society is smart enough to judge the party’s sincerity,” Hamdi said.
“On the other hand, there are two-faced politicians from the Golkar Party whose stance is confusing to the public.
PKS had earlier said it would oppose the plan despite being part of the ruling coalition. The party’s lawmakers maintained their opposition during voting to determine the fuel price increase.
Golkar, the second-largest party, keep the public on tenterhooks by temporarily following the PKS in opposing the increase but suddenly agreeing at the last minute to return to the ruling coalition’s stance.
Hamdi was speaking on the sidelines of a discussion on the controversial plan to hike subsidized fuel prices.
Other speakers in the discussion also criticized the protracted steps taken to reach the voting stage.
Social observer Benny Susetyo said the politicians tried to fool the public for the sake of their self image.
“They [the politicians] will get their punishment at the 2014 elections,” the Catholic priest said. “This will increase distrust of the House.”
While praising the opposition members for their consistency in resisting the plan, Hamdi criticized members of the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for their decisions to walk out before the voting began.  
He said that the opposition members must accept the final decision allowing the government to increase subsidized fuel prices within six months if the Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) is 15 percent higher than assumed in the state budget.
"Those lawmakers should have stayed in the plenary hall until the session was over. Their cantankerous attitude, which was shown by the walk-out, suggests that they will not take responsibility for the plenary session’s outcome. It was not a gentlemanly act to do such a thing,” he added.
The House finally agreed to revise the 2012 state budget in the early hours of Saturday. The decision automatically aborts the government’s plan to raise the fuel price by 33 percent from its current price on April 1.
Indonesia sets the price of subsidized fuel at Rp 4.500 (49 US cents) per liter, making the country’s fuel price the cheapest among Southeast Asia countries.

Source : The Jakarta Post