NTB DPRD Chairman Admits Not Involved in Discussing Governor's Directive Programme

Mataram (ANTARA) - NTB Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) Chairman Baiq Isvie Rupaeda admitted before the panel of judges in a gratuity case that she was not involved in discussions on the NTB Governor’s directive programme budgeted at Rp76 billion. “So, I had no idea at all. Because when discussing the programme, the DPRD Chairman is not involved. Of course, the prosecutor knows how I feel, and I don’t want to know,” said Baiq Isvie in response to questions from the public prosecutor during the trial at the Corruption Court at Mataram District Court on Thursday. She conveyed this stance to the panel of judges after hearing directly from Nur Salim, Head of the Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) of NTB, about the Governor’s directive programme. “So, at that time Nur Salim came to my house uninvited, he told me about this programme and I said that’s the Governor’s authority, go ahead,” she stated. From Nur Salim’s explanation, she assessed that her position had been limited in this programme. Because Nur Salim explained that he had received a mandate from the NTB Governor to socialise the programme to Indra Jaya Usman alias IJU, who is now one of the defendants. Regarding the budget reallocation from cuts to the core thinking budgets (pokir) of former NTB DPRD members who were not re-elected for the NTB Governor’s directive programme, namely Desa Berdaya, she admitted knowing about it from Nur Salim. She had initially received news from the NTB Governor about the executive’s plan to cut the pokir budgets of non-re-elected former members. “Initially the Governor asked for Rp120 billion, I said don’t cut it. Then it dropped to Rp90 billion and finally there was a cut of around Rp60 billion,” she said. As NTB DPRD Chairman, Baiq Isvie claimed she did not object to the pokir budget cuts that had been stipulated in the Regional Head Regulation (Perkada) Number 02 in May 2025 through a decree from the NTB Governor. She also admitted to reminding the Governor about a previous statement by Dian Patria, Head of KPK Task Force V, during an audience with NTB DPRD, that there should never be pokir allocations mid-way. “I explained that to the Governor, and if there are cuts, don’t give them to new DPRD members yet, only during the revised regional budget. I reminded the Governor at that time, but it was still cut,” she said. Members Disappointed Over the pokir budget cuts for former NTB DPRD members who were no longer elected, she admitted that some of them came to express their disappointment. “So, it’s not that they weren’t informed, in fact they knew first. They were angry at me, raging (emotional) at Mr Governor,” she said. “Yes, indeed, there’s no obligation for the TAPD (regional government budget team) to inform me. Only to convey what will be discussed in the revised regional budget,” she added. In the continuation of the trial for the three defendants, namely IJU, Hamdan Kasim, and M. Nashib Iqroman on Thursday, the public prosecutor presented Baiq Isvie along with three NTB DPRD Deputy Chairmen as witnesses. They are Lalu Wirajaya, Muzihir, and Yek Agil. The public prosecutor presented the witnesses one by one before the panel of judges, starting with Baiq Isvie as NTB DPRD Chairman.