By Vikram Nehru
Thousands of people demonstrated across Indonesia last week to protest a government plan to increase the domestic fuel price, part of the revised 2012 budget making its way through parliament. In the face of these demonstrations, some of which turned violent, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono lost crucial support within his own ruling coalition and couldn’t push the vote through. Instead, after last-minute negotiations, all the ruling party could do was accept a weak compromise that gave the government the authority to raise the fuel price at some point in the future and under certain stringent conditions.
While this outcome is better than the status quo, the president suffered a humiliating political defeat. Coming a full two and a half years before the next general election, this defeat has weakened the president immeasurably, further confirming his inability to control his own coalition. Indonesia now faces the possibility of policy drift and an unexpectedly early start to the 2014 presidential race.
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