Indonesian protest against fuel price hike

The decision was taken to cut subsidies which the government says the nation cant afford.After previous demonstrations turned violent, around 14,000 police and 8,000 soldiers were deployed at key locations in Jakarta, including parliament house, the presidential palace and the international airport.Demonstrations have occurred almost daily in recent weeks ahead of the parliamentary vote Friday which is expected to raise the heavily subsidised fuel price by a third, from Rp 4,500 (49 cents) to Rp 6,000.The government has said that without hiking the fuel price, rising global oil prices will push the countrys budget deficit above the three percent of GDP cap stipulated by law.Rally organisers promised tens of thousands of protesters would take to the streets on Thursday. By mid-morning some 2,000 had gathered in front of the presidential palace, all members of hardline Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir.Men wearing Muslim caps and women in headscarves chanted Replace, replace this rubbish system and carried banners saying Reject the fuel price hike Rulers are liars, wicked and traitors.Capitalism and imperialism will only put people in misery as foreigners have always exploited countries with rich natural resources like Indonesia, said the groups spokesman Ismail Yusnanto.The Indonesian Trade Unions Alliance said thousands of its members would also join demonstrations in the capital.We demand that the government not hike the fuel price, union chairwoman Nining Elitos told AFP. Everything will become more expensive, which will create a burden. It just means misery.In Bandung city south of Jakarta, thousands of members of Hizbut Tahrir -- a prominent religious group in Indonesia which is the worlds biggest Muslim-majority nation -- were already demonstrating by early morning.Planned mass rallies in the capital fizzled Tuesday, with 22,000 security personnel overseeing just 3,500 protesters.But almost 10,000 people showed up in other cities including Medan in Sumatra island and Surabaya in eastern Java.Some rallies turned violent as hundreds of protesters pelted rocks, petrol bombs and sticks at police, who fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.