T

renggalek Deputy Regent Muhammad Nur Arifin has broken the silence over his absence from office without prior notice from Jan. 9 to 19.

His absence made headlines across the archipelago, and East Java Governor Soekarwo reportedly issued a letter rebuking Arifin.

Outgoing Trenggalek Regent Emil Elistianto Dardak, who will be inaugurated as the East Java deputy governor in February, having won in a regional election in 2018, issued a vague statement on the matter on Monday.

“I’m sure he’s always fighting for the advancement of Trenggalek with his every step,” Emil said as quoted by kompas.com.

Home Ministry spokesman Bahtiar also released a statement on Monday, saying that the ministry supported the East Java governor’s move to rebuke Arifin “for leaving without notice”.

He cited Law No. 23/2014 on local administrations, which stipulates that elected leaders cannot leave office and their regions for more than seven consecutive days or seven non-consecutive days within a period of a month without notice and permission from their superiors — which is the minister for provincial leaders and provincial leaders for regents and mayors.

“Those who do so for urgent health reasons can be exempted,” he said, adding that elected leaders who violated the law could be subject to sanctions, including a written reprimand from the President or elected leaders at a higher level.

In the statement, Bahtiar said the ministry had asked Emil to write a thorough report on Arifin’s absence.

“This report should then be forwarded to the East Java governor and the Home Ministry. This procedure needs to be done to set a precedent for other regional leaders,” he said.

On Tuesday, Arifin explained himself via his Instagram account @avinml, revealing that he had traveled to London to attend a conference. He posted brief videos of himself speaking before a discussion forum.

“This is part of my trip to Europe from Jan. 11 to 19. This was not a business trip but my personal initiative on my own expenses. I know I am not someone who can bring about changes, but meeting these people and seeing the world this way had energized me. I believe this meeting will be beneficial in the future,” he said in his post.

“I apologize for the disruption — one was even worried that I was kidnapped. Ha ha […] Yes, I was. I was kidnapped by my wife,” he joked.

An Indonesian student in London, Margareth Aritonang, confirmed that Arifin had attended a discussion organized by the Indonesian Society at the SOAS University of London.

“The theme of the discussion on Jan. 12 was ‘How big data affects democracy in Indonesia’, with lawmaker and PDI-P [Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle] politician Budiman Sudjatmiko as the speaker. The [Trenggalek] deputy regent was not invited as a speaker but Budiman invited him to the stage to share his experiences in using technology to perform his duties as a deputy regent,” she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Arifin also attended another discussion on village funding at the London School of Economics, she added.

Arifin said he did not realize that his trip to Europe had caused controversy.

He also said that he had yet to receive the reprimand letter from Soekarwo that had considered his trip illegal since it was made without prior notice to the Trenggalek and East Java administrations.

“I just read [the reprimand letter from the governor] from the media,” he told the Post on Tuesday.

Arifin had been absent from office without notice for nine days, forcing Emil, as the Trenggalek regent, to notify the governor.

He said he did not think that he had broken any rules.

— Wahyoe Boediwardhana contributed to this story from Malang