Kuala Lumpur - More than 1,000 protestors marched along busy streets in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday in a show of anger against the government's move of increasing the price of fuel by a staggering 40 per cent. The demonstration, which was organised by the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia, saw opposition members as well as members of the public gathering around a shopping complex in downtown Kuala Lumpur holding banners and shouting anti-government slogans.
Some of the banners read "Bring down the price of fuel immediately" and "Stop abusing the people."
Organisers had earlier said they expected a crowd of more than 5,000 people, but later claimed that police roadblocks were the reason for the smaller numbers.
Police had said Thursday that the gathering was illegal and planned to stop the march, which was originally scheduled to end at the Petronas Twin Towers, the headquarters of the national oil firm.
The gathering is the largest protest against a June 5 decision by the government to raise fuel prices by a whopping 40 per cent to 2.70 ringgit a litre.
Riot police and more than 1,000 police officers were deployed to control the situation, but the demonstration ended peacefully after protestors dispersed.
Despite Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pledge not to raise the prices of fuel for the rest of the year, opposition groups are calling for more protests in coming days to demand that the price of oil be brought back down.
Abdullah has said the government's decision to increase prices was a move to reduce its hefty subsidy bill, following rising global oil prices.
