Prabowo Supporter Calls for Tax Boycott, Expert: That is Absurd
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16 May 2019 07:27 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Gerindra Party Deputy Chief Arief Poyuono recently declared a motion of no confidence toward the Indonesian government and campaigned for a collective tax boycott toward his supporters.
His distrust is mainly driven by the opposition’s distrust for a future elected government formed by the 2019 presidential election. The Executive Director of Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis, Yustinus Prastowo, deemed Arief’s solicitation as totally absurd.
“For sure his call [for tax boycott] is absurd and dangerous,” said Yustinus Prastowo on Wednesday, May 15.
The absurdity, according to Yustinus, is because lawsuits regarding the election are eligible to be brought to the Constitution Court and are overseen by the law.
Read: Prabowo Camp Has No Plan to Challenge election Result to Court
Without adhering to existing procedures, he says, any claim or allegations of a possible rigged election will only delegitimize the entire formal state institution.
“This is nothing more than a contestant’s breakdown who is not able to accept any loss,” said Yustinus.
Moreover, refusing to acknowledge a legally chosen government based on a democratic and open election will face criminal charges as paying tax is a citizen’s obligation and refusing to do so is a violation of the Law on Taxation.
“In other words, calling to boycott taxes is a call to worsen the situation that eventually harms the entire Indonesian citizens,” he says.
TEMPO.CO
