Traveling councillors told not to visit Israel
JAKARTA (JP): City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo has instructed 12 members of Commission C for financial affairs, who are on an overseas trip financed by the city budget, to cancel their visit to Israel, a senior councillor said on Tuesday.
Councillor Tadjus Sobirin quoted Edy as saying that the order was mainly based on the absence of diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Israel.
"I think the councillors shouldn't visit Israel because it's a sensitive issue as we don't have a diplomatic relations with the country," Edy was quoted by the chairman of the Golkar Party faction, Tadjus, as saying.
According to Tadjus, Edy decided to phone councillor Amarullah Asbah, the chairman of the commission which is on the trip, to cancel the plan.
The 12 members of Commission C left for Europe last Saturday and were the second batch of city councillors to travel overseas, particularly to European countries, for a so-called comparative study.
Four members of the commission decided not to take part in the trip.
They are Ahmad Heryawan of the Justice Party (PK) faction, Nazamuddin of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Gaffar Malik and Sugiarso from the Indonesian Military/National Police faction.
"I don't think it's the appropriate time to take part in the visit now. Besides, members of the national and regional executives boards of my party have questioned me over the trip," said Ahmad.
The trip, scheduled to be participated in by all of the 85 city councillors, including Edy, is costing the city budget Rp 3 billion.
The 12 councillors of Commission C were earlier scheduled to depart Paris for Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to see the tomb of Samuel, Bethlehem, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Israel on Friday.
Indonesia is a strong supporter of a Palestine independent from Israeli occupation and has stated that it will not establish diplomatic ties until Palestine is free.
Based on the itinerary, the councillors will visit Amsterdam, Berlin, Birmingham, Paris and Rotterdam. During the trip, they will visit local administrations in Berlin, Birmingham and Rotterdam to study city revenue from taxes and other levies.
The trip, however, has been the target of harsh criticism as most of the stopovers are tourist attractions.
On Wednesday, for example, they will visit the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower and the Champs d'Elysse "for shopping" in Paris before going to Tel Aviv via London, according to the itinerary.
In Amsterdam, the councillors will visit places such as Madurodam and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum as well as the Volendam and take a canal cruise on Saturday.
Next Monday, they will go to Rotterdam by bus to see the cube houses as well as shopping in Lijnbaan before returning to Amsterdam and then directly going to Berlin by train.
From Amsterdam, the group is scheduled to leave for Tel Aviv on Sunday and return back to Jakarta via Singapore next Thursday from Berlin.
In Berlin, they will be engaged in "city orientation".
Earlier last month, members of Commission D for development affairs discretely took the first trip on an almost similar European tour and returned last Wednesday. But they did not visit Tel Aviv as it was not on their travel list.
It was also reported that the councillors of Commission D did not inform Speaker Edy prior to their departure.
When contacted, some relatives and family members of the councillors who are currently taking part in the trip appeared to be hiding the whereabouts of the councillors by saying they were out of town, instead of in Europe.
"My father is in Bandung and I don't know when he will return home," answered a girl, who said she was the daughter of Amarullah.
The trips of the other three commissions have yet to be announced but chairman of Commission B for economic affairs Syarif Zulkarnaen said his commission would go to Asian countries instead of to Europe. (nvn)