108 C. Java officials resign en masse

108 C. Java officials resign en masse

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Temanggung

At least 108 officials from the Temanggung regency administration
in Central Java resigned on Monday, after they cited an inability
to carry out their duties because they could not work with
Temanggung Regent Totok Ary Prabowo, due to his "arrogance".

The walkout began on Saturday, when 16 officials, including
the regency's secretary Setio Aji and heads of five divisions,
submitted their resignations.

By Monday, the number rose to 108, including 12 heads of the
regency's 20 districts, causing a serious leadership vacuum and
resulting in poor public service throughout the regency.

"The work has slowed, but we're still coming in," one of the
staffers that remained, told The Jakarta Post.

Head of traffic and parking at the tourism and transportation
office, Ripto Susilo, said the mass walkout was a moral action to
encourage better leadership, and that it was done spontaneously
without any coordination.

"We just hope the regent will take a good, hard look at
himself and quit being so arrogant," Ripto said.

The speaker of Temanggung legislative council, Bambang
Sukarno, did not give any more details about the reasons behind
the walkout, but said that it was clear evidence of a leadership
crisis in the regency.

However, he explained that one of the general complaints with
the administration was its habit of replacing officials without
following proper procedures.

Temanggung Regent Totok Ary Prabowo told journalists on Monday
he would not accept their resignations, and then claimed that
many of the officials were unaware of what they had done. The
officials, including himself, were pressured to resign, he
stated.

"As a father, I will make them realize, so they will go back
to serving the people," he said.

He alleged that the move was orchestrated, but declined to
give further details. "I also know that tomorrow (on Tuesday),
there will be a protest involving pedicab drivers, district
officials and people from outside of Temanggung, who are getting
paid between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 each," Totok complained.