Malaysia's ruling coalition rejected calls to reconsider a sharp rise in fuel prices on Friday, but state media said the country's beleaguered leader planned measures to ease the burden on consumers. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has come under renewed pressure from the opposition over this week's 41 percent rise in petrol prices and the 63 percent increase for diesel, brought about by the global surge in oil prices. He will attempt to appease public anger by revealing four measures next week to curtail the pain of the price rises. Abdullah will detail measures for state bodies to save costs, widen the social safety net for the poor, increase the number of price-controlled items and improve public transport, state news agency Bernama quoted the premier as telling senior editors. No further details were available. The government on Friday stood by its decision to hike fuel prices. “No,” Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad told reporters when asked if the government would bring prices back to their earlier level. He shrugged off street protests, saying “groups will take advantage of the situation”. “I don't think there is going to be a political backlash because in the end there are other aspects of the overall program that we are giving back to the people.” Abdullah has been under pressure to quit after the ruling coalition recorded its worst-ever performance in a general election during its 50-year rule. Some ruling coalition leaders from Sabah state have warned the government of serious political fallout from the fuel price hike, and hinted they might defect to the opposition over the increases. ANGER Angered by the rising cost of living and growing racial and religious tensions, Malaysians voted to hand control of five of the country's 13 states to the opposition earlier this year. Since then Abdullah has been trying to fend off a challenge to his leadership from within the United Malays National Organization and to prevent defections to the opposition that could topple his government. “The 40 percent increase is suicidal for the government, I think their days are numbered,” said political analyst Yahya Ismail. Abdullah has been widely expected to hand over to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, but has never spelt out a time frame. The government has said it would save 13.7 billion ringgit ($4.23 billion) as part of a broad overhaul of its energy price system. The money used for subsidies, which eat up a third of the budget, would be better spent on development projects. Two demonstrations planned in the capital after Friday prayers to protest the price hike fizzled out with more police, reporters and onlookers showing up than protesters. But opposition leaders said there will be more protests culminating in the biggest demonstration yet when they plan to bring 100,000 people into the city centre on July 12. “There's real anger out there,” Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of northern Penang state and secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action party, said. “The government is seen as unfeeling and cold-hearted.”
