Govt adamant about budget rise, despite criticism

Govt adamant about budget rise, despite criticism

Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Defying widespread public criticism, the government refused to
cancel a 57 percent increase in the 2006 budget allocation for
the presidential office amid the country's difficult situation.

"It will not be revised now, but it is possible in June next
year," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a news conference at his
office here on Friday.

He defended the government's decision to raise the
presidential office budget by over 57 percent to Rp 1.147
trillion next year.

The move was due to the increase in operational costs for the
presidential office, Kalla argued. "The increase is proper,
judging from the country's size".

The Vice President assured the public that the President may
not spend the whole budget as it would be in the form of
allocated programs.

"The President has ordered us to be very efficient," Kalla
said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is known as a media-
savvy leader, had ordered Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar to
cancel the increase during a plenary meeting with the House of
Representatives to approve the draft state budget on Friday.

However, the House approved the state budget on Friday without
any significant revisions.

Yusuf said the government would revise the budget allocation
for the presidential office in June next year through the revised
state budget.

The President suddenly ordered Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi
and presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, who accompanied him
on a visit to Jambi province on Friday, to go back to Jakarta to
brief journalists about the issue.

Senior government officials have made conflicting statements
concerning the issue.

Andi has said Susilo "was very shocked" after reading news
that the government planned to raise the presidential office's
budget from Rp 727 billion to Rp 1.147 trillion.

The President then summoned Yusuf and other related ministers
to give him clearer explanations about the reports.

Jusuf later said that Susilo knew about the planned increase
as it was included in the draft state budget the President had
approved in a Cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, Anggito Abimanyu, a senior official with the
Ministry of Finance, revealed that the increase was related to
the government's plan to buy a presidential plane next year.

In response, Andi said that Anggito's remark was "only a slip
of the tongue". He refused to elaborate upon the statement.

The news about the government's plan to increase next year's
budgets for the presidential office and the vice presidential
office appeared this week following a tip from a legislator of
the Indonesia Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P).

The reports surfaced soon after the House was widely
criticized for its decision to allocate Rp 10 million in monthly
operational allowances for each of its 550 members following fuel
price hikes.

The increases in the budget allocations for the House and the
President have sparked public anger as most people are currently
facing economic hardship amid soaring prices of all basic
commodities triggered by the expensive fuel prices.

Critics have said the government lacks a "sense of crisis" by
making such unpopular decisions, while it cut fuel subsidies for
the people.