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Chatib angered by accusations of trickery over draft state budget
Finance Minister Chatib Basri flared up over a statement from Dolfie OFP, a House of Representatives member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), accusing the government of entrapping the Joko âJokowiâ Widodo and Jusuf Kalla administration by giving it little fiscal leeway
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inance Minister Chatib Basri flared up over a statement from Dolfie OFP, a House of Representatives member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), accusing the government of entrapping the Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Jusuf Kalla administration by giving it little fiscal leeway.
Citing the House's budgetary board (Banggar), Chatib said the assumptions presented in the country's state budget plan (RAPBN) for the 2015 fiscal year were just a baseline.
'That is why I don't understand people saying that the RAPBN 'does not accommodate', 'does not allow fiscal space', or 'has entrapped [the new Jokowi-Kalla administration]'. How can people talk like that before we have even started deliberating the draft budget?' said Chatib as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Thursday.
Deliberation of the 2015 RAPBN in Thursday's meeting between Banggar and the government, attended by Chatib, National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana and Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo, had to be halted as both parties were waiting for the results of a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and president-elect Jokowi in Bali.
Banggar head Ahmadi Noor Supit said that deliberation of the RAPBN was the House's constitutional right, and that it could carry out the deliberation without having to wait until a new administration was established. However, Ahmadi added, the Legislative Institution Law, also known as the MD3 Law, also allowed the legislative body to scrutinize both vision and mission of the president-elect.
'Therefore, we strive to accommodate the president-elect's thoughts, vision and mission over the budget that he will implement,' said Ahmadi.
He went on to say that although the Jokowi administration had not yet been formed, there was a transition team that could communicate with the House through its supporting coalition party members.
Ahmadi admitted that both the House and the government had only one month to deliberate the RAPBN. 'I think that's enough time [for the deliberation]. This way we have room for a little delay in the deliberation. The important thing is that we produce a proper state budget,' he said. (put/ebf)
