Strikes across Indonesia

JAKARTA -- Protests were held in cities across Indonesia on April 1, most demanding that the government's planned fuel and electricity price increases be cancelled, not merely postponed.

In Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, thousands of students from several universities, including the Indonesian Muslim University and Hasanuddin University, and members of the People's Democratic Party hit the streets, burning tyres and waving posters carrying slogans such as “Total removal of fuel and electricity hikes!” and “Delay of hike is not enough”.

In Lampung, some 200 protesters gathered at the Lampung branch of Radio Republik Indonesia demanding that they be allowed on air to voice their objections to the price hikes. Similar protests were held in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, where hundreds of locals and students from Nomensen University, Muhammadiyah University and the Student-People Action Front expressed their objections.

In Surabaya, about 200 students from the National Student Institute for Democracy set up tents in Governor Surjo Park. Protests were also held in Bandung, West Java, by students from the Bandung Student League and National Democrat League, along with the All Indonesian Workers Association and Anti-Fascist and Racist Action.

In Yogyakarta, students from the Indonesian Muslim Student Association gave speeches in front of Gadjah Mada University, urging President Abdurrahman Wahid not to bow to foreign interests in raising electricity rates and fuel prices.

[Based on information from the April 2 Jakarta Post.]

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