BPS chief exits with snipe at President Abdurrahman<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minutes before relinquishing his post as Central
\nBureau of Statistics (BPS) chief, Sugito Suwito fired back at
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid, saying he was being truthful in
\nscaling back his economic growth projection.<\/p>\n
Sugito blasted the President on Wednesday for his comment that
\nhe lowered the projection out of spite because he knew he was
\nabout to be replaced.<\/p>\n
\"It has nothing to with that. I'm 61 years old, and therefore
\nI must retire,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The feud erupted after the President chided Sugito last week
\nfor saying that economic growth this year would likely not exceed
\n1.5 percent. Abdurrahman, known as Gus Dur, said Sugito was
\nfrustrated at being replaced.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman cited increasing exports and other encouraging
\nsigns which he believed would boost growth to about 4 percent.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists before the transfer of duty ceremony
\nto Soedarti Surbakti at the State Palace, Sugito said the
\nPresident should blame political instability for the less than
\nbright economic outlook.<\/p>\n
Sugito acknowledged that BPS previously announced that
\neconomic growth would reach 4 percent this year, but it revised
\nthe figures to factor in the deteriorating national political
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's address at Wednesday's ceremony seemed to
\ncontradict his comments from last week. He said that during the
\nNew Order regime, BPS often issued biased and misleading
\nstatistical data to appease the ruler.<\/p>\n
\"During the old regime our statistics were often manipulated
\nfor its vested interests,\" Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
Soedarti, formerly Sugito's deputy, defended her predecessor.<\/p>\n
She said a 1.5 percent growth estimate was based on objective
\ncalculations.<\/p>\n
\"Whoever holds the position, the result will be the same,
\nbecause our work is not based merely on intuition, but empirical
\ndata,\" she told journalists before the ceremony.<\/p>\n
\"So there is no political motive behind it.\"<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman in his address at the ceremony praised Soedarti as
\na professional bureaucrat and expressed confidence that she would
\nbe able to produce a better performance than her predecessor in
\nproducing reliable and accurate data. (prb)<\/p>",
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