Finance minister’s attitude ‘tolerable’

JAKARTA: Lawmakers said that a “harsh move” by Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo would not change the good relations between them.

“He [Agus] is a spontaneous person. I think his response was just another spontaneous reaction. It’s understandable due to the short time available for us to finish the discussion regarding the 2013 state budget,” lawmaker Achsanul Qosasi said Tuesday.

Separately, Harry Azhar Aziz said that nothing would change between his commission and the Finance Ministry because both were professional institutions. “It’s normal to disagree on something, especially on important matters such as the state budget. We don’t take his response seriously. Moreover, after the meeting he told us, jokingly, that he was attempting to imitate me as I had also hit a table during a meeting a while ago,” Harry said, citing that the substance of the discussion was the most important.

On Monday, Agus hit his table during a discussion on the 2013 state budget with lawmakers from the House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing financial affairs. His move was apparently triggered by lawmakers’ unfocused talk that did not pertain to the topic of discussion. (The Jakarta Post)