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Ahok faces threat of removal
Up in arms: Jakarta Legislative Council leaders pose for the media after attending a plenary session Thursday
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Up in arms: Jakarta Legislative Council leaders pose for the media after attending a plenary session Thursday. Lawmakers sought to launch an inquiry into Jakarta Governor Basuki âAhokâ Tjahaja Purnamaâs budget policy, an initial step to impeach him. (JP/AWO) (JP/AWO)
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span class="inline inline-center">Up in arms: Jakarta Legislative Council leaders pose for the media after attending a plenary session Thursday. Lawmakers sought to launch an inquiry into Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama's budget policy, an initial step to impeach him. (JP/AWO)
Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama was facing a unanimous move by the Jakarta Council to find fault with him on Thursday as it attempts to reproach him over the 2015 budget, a move that could lead to impeachment.
Unlike in regular plenary sessions, the Plenary Meeting Room in the Jakarta City Council building in Central Jakarta was packed with almost all councilors in attendance.
City Council Speaker Prasetyo Edi Marsudi proudly announced that 91 of the total 106 council members were present.
'We are here to discuss the last submission of the 2015 city budget by the Jakarta governor to the Home Ministry,' he said.
Ahok, now not a member of any political party since he left Gerindra Party last year, and the City Council have been at odds over the budget. The City Council drafted its own budget after stating that the one submitted by the city administration to the Home Ministry was 'illegal', claiming it had been drafted without approval from the councilors.
Fahmi Zulfikar of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), who was tasked with reading the proposal, said that Ahok had committed serious violations.
'He submitted the 2015 draft city budget which was not the one approved by the City Council and city administration,' he said.
Fahmi said the action violated 11 laws and regulations, including Government Regulation No. 58/2005 on regional financial management and Law No. 17/2003 on state finance.
He said, therefore, the council members urged the City Council speakers to exercise their right of inquiry. His statement was cheered by the audience, including some members of mass organizations, which were also staging a protest against Ahok outside the building.
All the seven faction representatives, including the National Awakening Party (PKB), which previously rejected the idea, reiterated their approval of the proposed right of inquiry.
Ahok played down the councilors' agenda. 'Let's see it as a present for my 100th day as governor,' he said.
Responding to the councilors' accusations, Ahok said all he wanted was a transparent culture, which was not shown in the City Council's version of the budget, where Rp 12.1 trillion of approved programs and projects had been erased and changed into questionable allocations by the councilors.
Ahok has shown journalists a document in which he found funding for uninterruptible power systems (UPS) in South Jakarta junior high schools that reached Rp 6 billion (US$466,693) for each school.
The governor seemed to be relaxed despite the rift and continued to participate in all his scheduled activities. 'If they investigate me, I can also investigate them,' he said.
Researcher Nico Harjanto of the Populi Center said that Ahok did not need to worry with the City Council's move, and that it would be a long journey before the politicians could impeach him.
'The councilors must conduct a thorough investigation and present detailed evidence to prove that the governor is at fault,' Nico said.
Were the councilors to find evidence of Ahok's missteps, he went on, they would have to submit their evidence to the Supreme Court. Ahok can only be impeached if the Supreme Court accepted the impeachment recommendation from the council based on the evidence they presented.
Nico went on that the councilors' attack against Ahok could backfire.
'Jakarta residents have a high level of trust for Ahok and low trust of the councilors. The councilors can lose their credibility from this dispute,' he said. Ahok was recently named the best regional leader by Populi Center based on a survey conducted across 34 provinces in the country.
Public policy expert Agus Pambagio said that Ahok and his subordinates must learn to communicate with the councilors.
'Political communication is the root of the problem in this dispute ['¦] he and his subordinates must improve their political communication skills in order to resolve the problem, because Jakarta residents will be disadvantaged the most if this keeps on going,' Agus said.
In 2013, the councilors had also attempted to exercise their right of inquiry against then governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo over the free healthcare program Jakarta Health Card. However, the dispute was solved by Jokowi before it turned sour by inviting the councilors to lunch.
