REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The protest against subsidized fuel price hikes is a normal reaction of the public to the decision taken by the government, stated President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
"It is a normal reaction to a decision," President Jokowi remarked while responding to journalists after receiving the President of the European Union Council Herman Van Rompuy at the State Palace here on Wednesday (19/11).
According to Jokowi, people from various circles will agree to the government's decision if they understand the benefits of the policy.
The president also acknowledged that the policy of raising fuel oil prices was a difficult decision that the government had to take.
"This is a difficult decision, but it has to be made," Jokowi, the former Jakarta governor and former mayor of Solo, noted.
He reiterated that the decision was taken to divert the subsidy from the consumptive sectors to the productive ones, the results of which will be visible next year.
"We really want to see the benefits of the state budget and do not want to see it become a waste," the president noted.
As elaborated earlier, the government wants to divert the fuel subsidy to increase budget expenditures in areas that are more useful to the people of Indonesia.
"The decision to divert fuel subsidy to the productive sectors is intended to increase budget expenditures, which are more beneficial to the people of Indonesia as a whole," Jokowi stated.
He reminded that the state, so far, needed funds for the development of infrastructure, education, and health facilities. But, so far, the funds were not available as they were spent to subsidize fuels.
The head of state reaffirmed that the government will provide the economically backward classes with a package of family welfare cards, Indonesia smart cards, and Indonesia health cards.
"This is intended to maintain their purchasing power and to enable them to commence productive endeavors," he added.
President Jokowi has announced the increase in subsidized fuel oil prices, which came into effect at 12 a.m. local time or early Tuesday.
The government decided to hike the price of subsidized premium gasoline to Rp8.5 thousand from Rp6.5 thousand per liter and the price of subsidized diesel oil to Rp7.5 thousand from Rp5.5 thousand per liter.
The price of kerosene, however, remains unchanged at Rp2.5 thousand per liter.
In the meantime, political analyst Komaruddin Hidayat affirmed that the decision to hike the prices of subsidized fuels can garner public support if the government gives assurance that it will divert the funds to productive sectors transparently.
"The process (of diverting the funds) must be carried out transparently and be implemented with the set parameters. As long as the government makes it transparent and rational, the people will support it," he stated on Tuesday in response to the subsidized fuel price hike.
He explained that the fuel price hike was a necessity for the president that could not be avoided.
"Regardless of who the president was, he would have been forced by the present conditions to divert the funds of the fuel subsidy to productive sectors," Hidayat, who is the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University, remarked.
He said that the government has implemented a "brave policy" that should be lauded.
"However, the matter is not just about bravery but concerns ways to realize it transparently and measurably," he pointed out.
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