Exams, criminal justice and fuel prices: A 'hat trick' of embarrassments?

Indonesia, as most of us know, is many things: stimulating, attractive, frustrating, annoying, challenging, pleasing. But the one thing it is not, is boring.

 

Take the past fortnight. We have seen three extraordinary events played out on the public stage.

 

First, there was the National Examinations for senior high school students: the exam which plays a major role in deciding the future of those students, whether in higher education or the job market.

 

This is no small undertaking. This year, a total of 3,224,179 students, spread across the 33 provinces, were registered for the exam, which the law says must be held simultaneously. This is clearly a major logistics challenge.

 

And this year it was a challenge not met. In no fewer than 11 provinces – a third of the total – the exams had to be postponed for up to a week, due to late arrival of the exam papers, insufficient exam papers being shipped, or insufficient books in which students could enter their answers being supplied. In some cases, students were given 24 hours notice of the delays. In other cases, they were only told when they turned up to sit the exam.

 

The blame has been placed primarily on one of the companies which won one of the contracts to print the exam papers. Needless to say, questions about the tendering process are getting much media time.

 

But what of the Minister for Education, Muhammad Nuh? He has formally accepted that, as Minister, the problems are his responsibility. But when asked whether, as a sign of his acceptance of that responsibility, he will resign, he just smiles and says that the President appoints him, and thus it is up to the President to decide whether he should continue in office. Clearly falling on his sword is not his style. And there is no sign that SBY intends to take decisive action.  

 

Pity the poor students – and their parents and families.

 

Then there was the bizarre case of Susno Duadji, convicted in 2011 of two cases of corruption and sentenced to three years and six months jail and a fine of Rp200 million. He appealed the conviction to the High Court and the Supreme Court, but lost both times.  

 

Last week, a group of national, regional and local officials from the Attorney General’s Office tried to take Susno into custody at his house in Bandung. Susno though, phoned the West Java Police Chief, and sought his protection, on the grounds that there were people at his house wanting to take him away, against his will. The Police Chief sent a 60-strong group of officers to Susno’s house, and brought him to Police Headquarters, where he was offered refuge. The Attorney-General’s Office personnel tried for several hours to take Susno into custody but eventually went away empty handed.

 

When asked why he had offered protection to a convicted criminal, the Police Chief said that as a citizen, Susno had a right to ask for police protection, and as it was the job of the police to extend protection to all citizens, his request was naturally granted.

 

This had nothing to do, of course, with the fact that Susno is a retired three star Police General, a former Head of the National Police Criminal Investigation Branch – and a former West Java Police Chief.

 

SBY was asked to resolve the matter. He is reported to have instructed the police and the Attorney's General Office to deal with the issue 'as justly as possible' (seadil-adilnya).

 

Exactly when these 'legal acrobatics', as one paper put it, will end is anyone’s guess. But I doubt Susno will see the inside of a jail cell any time soon.

 

Finally, the ongoing saga of fuel prices.

 

The Indonesian government has a long-standing policy of subsidising petrol and diesel prices. Currently regular (88 octane) petrol and diesel sell for Rp4,500 per litre. This price had not changed since mid-2006 except for a few months in 2008 when it was increased to Rp6,000, before the government relented to public pressure and brought the price back to Rp4,500.

 

Consumption of subsidised fuel has been rocketing in recent years. From 19.5 million kilolitres in 2008, it had risen to 28.3 million kilolitres by 2012.

 

The cost of the subsidy in 2013 was budgeted at Rp274.7 trillion ($28.3 billion), but some economists estimate this figure could blow out by as much as an additional Rp70 trillion ($7.2 billion).

 

The official rationale for the subsidy is equity: to ensure access to fuel at affordable prices for all members of society. Officially, the wealthy are supposed to buy unsubsidised (92 octane) super petrol, which sells for around Rp9,500 per litre. Go to just about any petrol station in the country and you will see a large banner that says subsidised petrol is only for the poor. Indonesia must be a very rich country judging by the number of poor people driving ‘Mercs’!

 

This situation is unsustainable. The government knows that; all parliamentarians should know that; and virtually all economists certainly know that. But the issue is highly sensitive politically. Any suggestion of an increase in price brings 'rent-a-crowd' out, proclaiming that the poor are being discriminated against – despite compensation packages for the poor from the government, and despite the blatantly obvious fact that the primary beneficiaries of the subsidy are the urban middle (and upper) class. The sight of members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia–a particularly ‘vigorous’ Islamist organisation–demonstrating against a price rise which would primarily hit the rich, is unusual to say the least.

 

The government’s solution? The rumour – there has been no formal statement yet – is that the government will settle on a two-price policy for subsidised fuel: a low price (probably Rp4,500 per litre) for public transport, farmers and motorbikes, and a higher but still subsidised price (probably Rp6,500 per litre) for everyone else...including ‘Mercs’.

 

Preparations have got as far as dividing up the country’s 5,569 petrol stations selling subsidised fuel – all owned by Pertamina – into four groups: those selling both petrol and diesel at the Rp4,500 rate, those selling both at the new, higher rate, and those selling one at the lower rate and one at the higher rate. 
 

Complicated? For sure.Vulnerable to manipulation? You can bet on it. Likely to resolve the problem? Probably as likely as Susno being in jail, or Muhammad Nuh resigning before the end of the year.

 

'Boring' might not be such a bad thing after all. 

 

 

Colin Brown-April 2013