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.