Eworaswa, Jakarta – The executive director of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), Denny J.A., says that fuel price increases will become the hottest issue for the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono next year.

“If the price of fuel goes up, this will be SBY’s [Yudhoyono’s] first unpopular act”, he said during a press conference on LSI’s 2004 end of year survey at the Hotel Sari Pan Pacific on Wednesday December 22.

According to LSI’s October 2004 survey, around 78.1 per cent of the public disagrees with any kind of fuel price increase. This figure may already have risen in December as a result of statements by government officials such as Vice-president Jusuf Kalla and the economics minister Abu Rizal Bakrie. “(What’s more) the price of liquid petroleum gas and Pertamax have already gone up”, he said. Because of this said Denny, this issue must be handled extra carefully by Yudhoyono.

[Translated by James Balowski.]