Indonesia: Presidential Inauguration Marked by Protests
Source: Green Left Weekly
Thousands of people from various sectors of society protested to mark the inauguration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president and Boediono as vice-president near the national parliament on October 20. Yudhoyono was elected to his second five-year term.
Spokeperson of the Street Parliament Alliance (APJ) Lalu Hilman Afriandi said: “Protesters demand the president end his neoliberal policies, because neoliberalism has brought suffering to the people of the world, including Indonesia.“In the last five years, the government has been busy seeking foreign loans. Up to August, our debt reached US$160.64 billion and each year hundreds of trillion rupiah must be found in the state budget to repay the loans.