PDIP Reminds Prabowo of His Claim That Villages Do Not Use Dollars: Prices of Goods Rise

Jakarta — PDIP senior figure Komarudin Watubun, a member of the House of Representatives Commission II and chairman of PDIP’s central leadership, has warned President Prabowo Subianto after he said rural villages do not use dollars in responding to the rupiah’s weakness. Komarudin argued that while villagers may not use dollars for daily needs, the depreciation of the rupiah will directly affect them. He said the rupiah’s decline is a fundamental issue that will be readily understood by people in villages. ‘Because with the rupiah collapsing like this, it will influence price levels,’ he told reporters at Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (18 May). He explained that with the dollar’s rise against the rupiah, staple goods such as fuel, oil, electronics, wheat, and even cafe foods will rise. Moreover, villagers are now heavily involved in export and import activities; therefore he said the president’s previous statement was not accurate. ‘So I think it’s not correct because it would affect other sectors greatly. If fuel prices go up, all goods prices will surely rise,’ said Komarudin, a member of Commission II on politics and government. He noted that village life today cannot be equated with the past, as rural residents now have the same mobility as urban dwellers. ‘The people now and then are different. In the past there was no information outside government information. Call it the New Order; there was only one source of information, TVRI. Now we have other sources; people in the countryside may know about events such as a drop in interest rates in Europe before I do,’ he said. Prabowo previously said the rupiah’s slump does not directly affect rural life focused on meeting basic needs. He said this at the inauguration of the Marsinah Museum in Nganjuk, East Java, on Saturday (16 May). He noted critics who say Indonesia’s economy is in danger because the rupiah continues to weaken. ‘Rupiah like this, rupiah like this, what? The dollar like this. The people in the villages do not use dollars, right? Food security, energy security, yes. Many countries panic, Indonesia is still okay,’ he said.