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Regional head retreat sparks criticism as budget cuts bite
More than 500 mayors, governors and regents will be taken to a military-style academy in the Central Java city of Magelang, where the recently inaugurated president's cabinet stayed in luxury tents in October.
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This handout picture President Prabowo Subianto shaking hands with a cadet during a visit to the military academy, where he is having a retreat with his cabinet ministers, in Magelang, Central Java. (AFP/Gerindra Party)
T
he government of President Prabowo Subianto will host a week-long mountain glamping retreat for hundreds of regional leaders this week, a presidential official said Wednesday, sparking criticism as the President imposes widespread budget cuts.
More than 500 mayors, governors and regents will be taken to a military-style academy in the Central Java city of Magelang, where the recently inaugurated president's cabinet stayed in luxury tents in October.
The 73-year-old former general has pledged to drill and unite the country's top politicians, choosing the mountains of Central Java for that mission.
The camping trip for 503 politicians will take place between February 21 and February 28, presidential spokesman Hariqo Wibawa Satria told AFP, confirming Prabowo would attend in some capacity.
The regional heads will be trained on good governance, improvement of public services and "chemistry building", he said.
But the gathering -- costing Rp 13.2 billion ($808,000) from the home ministry budget -- has prompted outrage online and criticism from NGOs.
"What's the urgency? Why should it be glamping with aides? A cheaper version of camping should be doable," a user posted on social media site X.
The criticism comes as Prabowo slashes budgets across the government after ordering cuts of Rp 306.7 trillion (around $19 billion) last month.
Another user said the government was trying to implement "budget efficiency but, on the other side, is busy wasting money holding a retreat".
Transparency International Indonesia in a statement called Prabowo's cuts "counterproductive and insensitive" to the needs of society, particularly "the massive burden of the state budget for providing training to regional heads".
Hariqo defended the event, saying the training used to take one-and-a-half months hosted by two different institutions, so the shortened retreat was in line with Jakarta's cost-cutting drive.
"The budget saving must be carried out but the regional heads' retreat also should be carried out. Both can be carried out simultaneously," he said.
Images released from Prabowo's cabinet retreat after his inauguration in October showed him and his ministers dressed in camouflage military gear.
Rights advocates have raised concerns that Prabowo and key allies like Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin could strengthen the role of the military in the secular democracy of around 280 million.
