Democratic Party changes stance on new House building after SBY's remarks

The ruling Democratic Party suddenly changed its stance on the plan to build a luxurious new House of Representatives building following a speech by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday ordering the plan to be reevaluated as it might be a waste of the state’s budget.

The chair of the Democratic Party at the House, Jafar Hafsah, said his party had talked with Yudhoyono, the party's chief patron. "If the public says the new building must stop, then it stops," he said.

He said President Yudhoyono has asked all lawmakers to take people's opinions into account.

"The requirement of a new building is still there. What we need to do now is to create a new, cheaper and modest building plan," Jafar said.

Earlier in the day, President Yudhoyono made a statement against the construction of new official buildings and facilities, which could include the controversial new building for legislators.

“[If it] does not fulfill the standards of properness, it should be postponed to conduct a revision, adjustment or if it is really unnecessary it could be postponed and canceled,” he said.

Yudhoyono said he understood the need to build good office buildings. “But, once again, for the sake of optimization and efficiency, I welcome a review [to see] whether there are some [buildings] that can be made more efficiently or adapted,” he said.

“The funds could be diverted to construct infrastructure of productive posts or used to top up the budgets for poverty reduction programs, and the rest could be used as a buffer fund, considering global food and oil prices,” Yudhoyono said.