Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Changes in climate and weather have caused the price of rice to increase in the current market. As a result, many people are dizzy because the prices of their staple foods have changed.
As a result, many of them are willing to queue for a long time to get cheap rice from the government. The government provides beras in the S programtabilization of Food Supply and Prices (SPHP) which is sold to consumers for IDR 53,000/sack of 5 Kg. This price is indeed much cheaper than the price on the market.
The phenomenon of people queuing for rice reminds of events from the past, specifically during the era of the end of Soekarno's rule. It's just that the cause was not climate change, but political policies at that time.
These dark times occurred since the 1960s. At that time, President Soekarno implemented a guided economic policy. Through this policy, all economic matters are controlled by the state. People can't do anything.
Boediono in Indonesian Economy (2017) explained that all development policies are based on political interests, not economic ones. As a result, Indonesia's economic conditions are slowly falling into disarray.
Plus, in the 1960s, Soekarno also decided to fight the Dutch to take over West Irian and fight Malaysia. These two non-economic things practically suck up the state budget. At this point, the people become victims.
Journalist and historical witness to the incident, Rum Aly, in Crossroads of Power in 1966 Myths and Dilemmas (2006:87) said that this period was a difficult year for society.
“The daily need for food and drink has doubled from a year earlier, and compared to the 50s, the increase is five to ten times,” he recalled.
The price increase was caused by depletion of stocks of goods, one of which was rice, which is people's staple food. Rice at that time was very rare. To overcome this, Soekarno even imported rice from China, even though the rice was of poor quality.
Even so, people have no other choice and continue to queue to get the rice.
This shortage reached its peak in 1966. In Indonesian Economy 1800-2010 (2012) explained that when inflation reached 650%, Soekarno stopped importing rice due to the lack of foreign exchange reserves. As a result, rice is super rare.
The government provides three liters of rice to one family. To get there, people have to queue from dawn at places determined by the government. Situations like this caused Soekarno's prestige to decline in the eyes of the public.
Since then, a wave of demonstrations demanding a reduction in prices of basic commodities and the resignation of Soekarno has occurred. Moreover, at the same time Sukarno was considered not serious about dealing with this problem. And this was proven when his policies repeatedly failed. In fact, at the time of the demonstration, based on documentation from the National Broadcasting System, Soekarno still had time to hold a garden party at the State Palace.
In the end, thanks to this incident plus the political machinations of the country's elite, Soekarno fell from the presidency.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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(mfa/mfa)