Democratic Party executive and lawmaker Umar Arsal said on Sunday the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) should withdraw its ministers from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet after refusing to support the government's recent plan to increase fuel prices.
Umar said the other parties within the government coalition had also been disturbed by the PKS' unexpected political move in the recent fuel price controversy.
“I can understand if the Democratic Party and other
parties in our coalition ask the PKS to take their ministers out of the Cabinet,” Umar said as quoted by tribunnews.com.
The PKS initially had four ministers in Yudhoyono's Cabinet before the President appointed former environment
minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta as Research and Technology Minister replacing Suharna Surapranata, a senior PKS member, in a major Cabinet reshuffle last year.
In a dramatic vote, the House finally agreed to revise the 2012 state budget in the early hours of Saturday. The decision automatically aborted the government’s plan to raise the fuel price by 33 percent from its current price on April 1 but allowed it to increase the price if the Indonesian Crude Price is 15 percent higher than assumed in the state budget within six months.
The 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.
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.
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