Basofi denies levies for Golkar account<\/p>\n
SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Governor Basofi Soedirman has denied
\nreports of levies to beef-up Golkar's political funds being taxed
\non civil servants.<\/p>\n
\"It's not true if people said there are fees, including for
\nGolkar batik and yellow jacket. Those articles are being
\ndistributed to cadres for free,\" Basofi said here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, he said, Golkar already has an abundance of
\nfunds gathered from various private donations.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar already has sufficient funds for the coming elections.
\nIt wouldn't be necessary for it to tax bureaucrats,\" said Basofi,
\nwho is a member of the ruling Golkar.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on reports from several civil servants,
\nparticularly teachers, concerning cuts in their monthly wages.<\/p>\n
A number of teachers, members of the Golkar-affiliated Corps
\nof Civil Servants (Korpri), revealed that donations are being
\nautomatically taken off their salaries.<\/p>\n
The teachers said they were told that the donation for Golkar.
\nThey also said they were helpless and had to accept the cut.<\/p>\n
The donations varied with the civil servants rank. Rank I
\nemployees were required to donate Rp 500 (US$ 21 cents) each
\nmonth, Rank two Rp 1,000 a month, Rank three Rp 2,000 and Rank
\nfour Rp 3,000.<\/p>\n
Despite Basofi's claims that Golkar had sufficient funds for
\nthe election, three districts in the Surabaya mayoralty have
\nopenly practiced such levies since August 1995. These are the
\nBubutan, Rungkut and Simokerto districts.<\/p>\n
The head of the mayoralty's public relations department,
\nIsmail Chamid, told The Jakarta Post here Tuesday that all the
\nmoney taken must be returned to the civil servants.<\/p>\n
Mayor Sunarto Sumoprawiro has instructed that the money be
\nreturned, Chamid said.<\/p>\n
Basofi explained that Golkar has received funds from
\nbusinessmen whose ventures benefited from the positive political
\nand economic climate provided by Golkar's effort in national
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
\"It has come to a point where I'm flooded and have to refuse
\n(donations),\" Basofi said of Golkar's elections funds.<\/p>\n
He said he has never ordered his subordinates to undertake
\nsuch levies. He went on to suggest that reports of such levies
\nwere being created by certain groups as a political move to
\nattack Golkar.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Basofi acknowledged that such incidents could
\nalso occur due to the lack of information on the amount of funds
\nalready available for next year's general elections.(15\/mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/basofi-denies-levies-for-golkar-account-1447893297",
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