Anies Baswedan Advised to Mimic Ahok's Work on Budget

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The chairman of PDIP faction in the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD), Gembong Warsono, suggested Anies Baswedan imitate his predecessor Basuki Tjahja Purnama or Ahok in employing people for his interests, such as speechwriters. 

The former governor, according to Gembong, did not burden Jakarta Budget or APBD when hiring them.

Gembong said that while serving as a governor, Ahok used his operational funds to pay salaries of his personal team, including the Governor's Team for Accelerated Development (TGUPP).

"Now everything is charged in the APBD. In the previous governor’s administration, such budget allocation was earmarked in the governor's operational funds," Gembong told Tempo via a phone call on Wednesday, November 6.

The PDIP politician further opined that Anies did not set a good example for his subordinates. While the regional working unit was instructed to make savings, the governor raised the budget to pay people who worked directly for him. “This is irrational,” he added.

Gembong stated that two speechwriters would be adequate to assist the governor given the fact that a governor did not have many activities in a year.

The budget allocation of Anies Baswedan’s speechwriters grabbed public limelight after Indonesia Budget Center (ICB) found a duplication of the budget in the 2020 APBD draft proposed by the city’s bureau of regional head and overseas partnership at Rp390 billion and the communication bureau at Rp240 billion.

IMAM HAMDI