TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo denied asking Bimo Putranto—a former councilor in Surakarta, Central Java, who also claims to know the governor—to interfere with the procurement of mid-size and TransJakarta bus fleets. The governor admitted to knowing Bimo but said he never sent the latter to China to handle the procurement.

“Everybody can take pictures with me. Everybody can claim to be somebody’s man,” he said at the City Hall on Thursday, March 13, 2013.

He also said he did not intervene in the bus procurement auction, adding that the current auction system provided an equal opportunity for anybody to win. “They can be your friends, foes or neighbors,” he said. “But whether the way to win it is illegal or not, that’s under the authority of law.”

Jokowi said it all went back to those particular people’s innate characteristics. “It’s impossible that I follow my friends everywhere. My friends are not hundreds or thousands,” he said.

Jokowi said the Jakarta administration would open itself to be scrutinized by the Attorney General office. “What matters is that we have been through investigation by the Inspectorate and BPKP [The Development and Finance Surveillance Agency]. If it enters the realm of law, it’s not our domain anymore,” he said.

The name Bimo Putranto was mentioned in the procurement of faulty TransJakarta buses last year. Bimo, however, has denied any allegation of his involvement in the project. He claimed he was not involved in the bus procurement and was not sent to China.

ANGGRITA DESYANI