Doubling-up of leaders occurs at two tax offices
JAKARTA (JP): Legal confusion has resulted in two Jakarta tax offices having double leaders, a councillor said on Thursday.
Deputy council's speaker Djafar Badjeber said the minister of finance inaugurated on Jan. 9 two new officials to fill the top position at Jakarta tax offices IV and V, while the individuals that are to be replaced have refused to resign.
"It used to be the governor's authority to inaugurate the head of any regional office," he told reporters, referring to Government Regulation No.6/1988, after the city council's plenary meeting.
The minister has abused his authority by inaugurating the new officials, he said.
"He had not consulted with the governor to choose the new officials," he said.
A letter from the minister of home affairs in 1983 stipulated that the substitution process of any regional office head should first be consulted with the local administration.
According to the letter, it is the governor who possesses the authority to inaugurate the head of the city tax offices.
Djafar said Baharudin and Abdul Asri Harahap had refused to leave their posts as the heads of tax office IV and V, respectively, because they believed that the inauguration process of the new officials, Hardi and Sumihar P. Tambunan, was a 'wrong procedure'.
Baharudin and Abdul said they would stay in their position until there was a formal handover ceremony under the governor's instruction, said Djafar.
Hardi was head of the claims division of the tax inspection directorate, while Sumihar was head of the Medan tax office I, he added.
He said both Baharudin and Abdul have sued the minister of finance at the state administrative court for the "wrong procedure", and the court has issued a decision to ask the minister not to hold a handover ceremony.
Contacted separately, city spokesman Muhayat said the city administration has yet to decide whether the new official's inauguration was wrong or not.
"Basically, the city administration has no objection to what the minister has done, as long as there is no stagnating effect on the tax offices' daily activity," Muhayat told The Jakarta Post by phone.
He said the minister may have his own reasons behind the replacement.
He also said the administration would soon ask the finance minister to explain his decision.
When asked to comment on the rejection of Baharudin and Abdul to resign and the lawsuit, Muhayat said they should have handled it internally.
Despite the dispute, the city administration has asked the tax offices not to forget its duty to public service, he added.
While contacted separately, spokesman of the Finance Ministry Eddy M. Effendi said the minister has decided to replace officials of the taxes offices, based on Regulation No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy.
"According to the law, any replacement in the ministry of finance is under the minister's authority," he said.
The law stipulates that the local administration has the authority to handle any policies at the regional level, except on foreign, defense and security, justice, monetary, and religious affairs. (04)