The President made the call in his clarification on the 2012 Amended State Budget at the State Palace in Jakarta Saturday night.
"My instruction to the ranks of the government, including the governors, regents and mayors, is in accordance with our oath of office and ethics, and let us work as hard as we can, and I hope all of you will remain loyal and obedient to the government policies in accordance with the prevailing regulations," he said.
The Head of State also called on the government ranks and Indonesian people to preserve the economy at the present time and in the future.
"On many past occasions in time of the economic crisis, we were able to face it and our economy grew well. Therefore no matter how difficult the economy we were facing could be dealt with together," he said.
On the occasion the President also called on all sections of the society to share our responsibility in a political situation and national security making the people feel safe and the development remains in tact.
"In time of pressures we need to be responsible to maintain political stability and security. Never act in the reserve, never act on the contrary, because everything is for our people and our economy," he said.
The President also said that in case of confusion and instability, the victims would only be the Indonesian people. "Thus it is these measures and actions which will be made by the government while the State Budget is very important, but not only to preserve our economy and national growth," he said.
The President`s clarification on the posture of the 2012 Amended State Budget was made exactly after the House plenum in the small hours of Saturday, agreed to postpone the subsidized fuel hike on April 1, 2012.
The decision is the result of a voting of the House plenum on the 2012 Amended State Budget, and also opening the possibility for the government to make an adjustment if Indonesia`s crude oil price has been increased or lowered by more than 15 pct in six months.
The House members conducted a voting for two options, the first is to stick to the substance of article 7 paragraph 6 of the Draft Law on the 2012 Amended State Budget giving no opportunity to the government to raise fuel prices; the second is to add article 6 a stating that the government could raise fuel prices if the Indonesia crude (ICP) price has been raised or lowered to more than 15 percent in six months.
The majority - 356 - of the House lawmakers, chose the second option, and the remaining 82 the first.
The Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle and the People`s Conscience Party decided to walk out when the voting was about to begin.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
