Tumini needn’t worry for now. LPSK head Achmadi, who also goes by one name, said that while the “budget efficiency” was real, the agency would “not be neglecting our main task”. It would find other areas to cut, he said. Possibly “travel expenses, other posts” – not patient care.
Armed with this news, Tumini told this masthead she went to hospital on Thursday and did not get turned away.
Opposition is growing to President Prabowo Subianto’s call for “budget efficiency” reminiscent of the deep spending cuts happening in Vietnam and the US. Credit: Bloomberg
Chusnul Chotimah, another LPSK client from the 2002 Bali terrorist attacks, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, said her treatments had been guaranteed until August. Beyond that, she didn’t know what would happen.
“If the money is not there, how will they pay?” she asked.
The cases are emblematic of the confusion and, in some cases, the panic sweeping Indonesia.
After cutting and shuffling money, the government plans to realise savings of up to Rp750 trillion ($73 billion), some of which will be funnelled into a new fund called Danantara that will be used initially to pay for 20 priority projects, including to develop mineral processing facilities and renewable energy infrastructure.
The Presidential Communication Office said cutting bloated bureaucracies would allow the government to better fund “education and health, public services and public welfare”.
Demonstrators hold candles during a protest against Subianto near the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.Credit: Bloomberg
Free meals for hungry kids have been widely applauded and voted for. But specifics about how the cuts would be made, and even the total savings goal, remain murky. Senior members of government have at times offered different numbers.
The size and suddenness of the cuts echo the work of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the United States. Unlike there, the Indonesians say they will somehow get it done without reducing the workforce, but some workers say their hours have been cut; others say they lost their jobs only to be reinstated after public outcry.
Indonesian students protest at a rally against the recent budget efficiency and other policies implemented by the new government.Credit: AP
Earlier this month, a radio host at a state-owned station posted a tearful plea to the president on social media, calling on him to consider the social impact of his budget cuts.
“Sir, we know that the budget efficiencies are to support your programs to run well, like, for example, free meals for children,” she said.
“But have you thought that when in the morning you give free nutritious meals to children … they return home and find that their parents are unable to give them a proper lunch or dinner because their parents were fired …?”
The post went viral. She soon took it down, saying the government had responded to her message privately and positively. It was unclear what this meant.
Elsewhere, a contractor at a state-run TV station, who asked to remain anonymous, told this masthead he was stood down in early February, only to be rehired after his also sacked colleagues protested on social media. But his workload was now reduced, he said, and his wage was subsequently cut by more than 50 per cent.
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Public servants are also being asked to realise “efficiencies” by restricting their use of lights, drinking water, telephones, internet, air-conditioning and elevators. Even toilet paper.
CELIOS think tank director and founder Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara said he could not see how the cuts would either attract business or make the government run better.
“It is unplanned and chaotic,” he said.
Students and progressives have protested in more than a dozen Indonesian cities, fearing bumps in school fees and cuts to living allowances or scholarships. Prabowo’s team sought to play down these specific concerns and even replaced the relevant minister. But the national angst gave student groups a pretext to rail against perceived authoritarianism from the ex-general’s administration.
The hashtag #Indonesiagelap, or “dark Indonesia” – a contrast to the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision espoused by political leaders – began gaining traction in early February and exploded as students took to the streets. But the protesters failed to rally the masses, and Prabowo – who had 80 per cent public support before the budget cuts – remains resolute.
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