"The public`s rejection has become increasingly louder and the government must hear it. It would be better for the government to suspend the plan," KH Said Aqil Siroj, chief of the organization`s central executive board, said via phone from Medan, North Sumatra.
If the government failed to respond to the widespread rejection of the planned fuel oil price hike, the stability of the country could be threatened, he warned.
He also feared that the widespread rallies being held in opposition to the planned fuel price hike would harm the nation's economy.
He added, however, that the NU fully understood the reason behind the government`s plan to raise fuel prices, which is the soaring global crude price hovering above US$120 a barrel.
If the government wants to raise fuel prices it should be done in stages, he suggested.
"If the fuel price is forcibly hiked, we suggest that the increase should be a maximum of Rp500 a liter. Don`t raise it by Rp1,500 a liter because the public will suffer a huge blow with that," he said.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated against the government`s plan to raise fuel oil prices in front of the state palace on Friday evening.(*)
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/B/A014) 30-03-2012 17:51:41
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
