Basofi denies levies for Golkar account

Basofi denies levies for Golkar account

SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Governor Basofi Soedirman has denied
reports of levies to beef-up Golkar's political funds being taxed
on civil servants.

"It's not true if people said there are fees, including for
Golkar batik and yellow jacket. Those articles are being
distributed to cadres for free," Basofi said here on Tuesday.

On the contrary, he said, Golkar already has an abundance of
funds gathered from various private donations.

"Golkar already has sufficient funds for the coming elections.
It wouldn't be necessary for it to tax bureaucrats," said Basofi,
who is a member of the ruling Golkar.

He was commenting on reports from several civil servants,
particularly teachers, concerning cuts in their monthly wages.

A number of teachers, members of the Golkar-affiliated Corps
of Civil Servants (Korpri), revealed that donations are being
automatically taken off their salaries.

The teachers said they were told that the donation for Golkar.
They also said they were helpless and had to accept the cut.

The donations varied with the civil servants rank. Rank I
employees were required to donate Rp 500 (US$ 21 cents) each
month, Rank two Rp 1,000 a month, Rank three Rp 2,000 and Rank
four Rp 3,000.

Despite Basofi's claims that Golkar had sufficient funds for
the election, three districts in the Surabaya mayoralty have
openly practiced such levies since August 1995. These are the
Bubutan, Rungkut and Simokerto districts.

The head of the mayoralty's public relations department,
Ismail Chamid, told The Jakarta Post here Tuesday that all the
money taken must be returned to the civil servants.

Mayor Sunarto Sumoprawiro has instructed that the money be
returned, Chamid said.

Basofi explained that Golkar has received funds from
businessmen whose ventures benefited from the positive political
and economic climate provided by Golkar's effort in national
development.

"It has come to a point where I'm flooded and have to refuse
(donations)," Basofi said of Golkar's elections funds.

He said he has never ordered his subordinates to undertake
such levies. He went on to suggest that reports of such levies
were being created by certain groups as a political move to
attack Golkar.

Nevertheless, Basofi acknowledged that such incidents could
also occur due to the lack of information on the amount of funds
already available for next year's general elections.(15/mds)