Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta Governor
Would I be so stupid as to be involved in bartering?

BASUKI Tjahaja Purnama has been dragged into a whirlpool of bribery charges by reclamation developers over his decision to impose additional contributions to the local government without any legal basis. The Jakarta governor claims it was his discretion to set the additional contributions necessary for accelerated development.

He said the requirement for the additional contributions as a precondition for issuing the reclamation permits was not bartering. "A barter would be if I benefited from it," he declared. Refusing to be specifically interviewed on this, Basuki was willing only to answer the questions submitted by Tempo reporters Ananda Teresia and Erwan Hermawan at two different opportunities on Wednesday and Thursday last week.