Jakarta – Governor Sutiyoso arrived back in the city Tuesday, from a day trip to Yogyakarta, to face allegations the administration misappropriated Rp 1.56 trillion (US$166 million) from the 2005 provincial budget.
"I'm asking the council not to make any statements that will cause a stir. I'm afraid the public will think we really have embezzled the money," he said.
Sutiyoso said, as far as he knew, the city administration's financial situation had been examined by a number of auditors, including the Supreme Audit Body (Bapeka), the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) and the city audit agency (Bawasda).
The Democratic Party made the charges during a plenary session Monday, without putting forward any evidence to back up the graft allegations.
The party only specified the sectors in which the alleged corruption occurred.
It estimated that misappropriated funds for infrastructure – the hardest-hit sector – totaled Rp 868.9 billion, while Rp 292 billion was embezzled from the budgets for health and education.
In the law and public order sector, the money embezzled was estimated to be Rp 208 billion, while, in the least affected sector – population and manpower – misappropriated funds were estimated to reach Rp 13 billion.
Sutiyoso's response was similar to Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo's. The two were adamant the Democratic Party's findings were way off the mark.
"The figures don't make any sense," he said. "If administration officials were proven to have embezzled that amount of money, I would hang them myself on the flag pole in front of my office," Sutiyoso said.
When asked if the allegations were politically related to next year's gubernatorial election, the governor declined to comment. "I don't know anything about that," he said.
The governor is scheduled to attend the session on June 6 to clarify the allegations.
Representing Sutiyoso at Monday's plenary session, Fauzi Bowo challenged the council to prove the allegations.
Last month, the city audit agency reported that about Rp 7 billion of the provincial budget had been embezzled, though no real action was taken in response.
The council's deputy chairman, Ilal Ferhard, said if the allegations were proven valid he would refer the case to the provincial prosecutor's office.