Former President Yudhoyono to Return Presidential Car ‘Borrowed’ From State Inventory
Jakarta. Darmansjah Djumala, the head of the presidential secretariat at the State Secretariat Ministry, has confirmed that former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will return a presidential car he has been borrowing since his term ended in 2014.
Djumala said there are eight presidential cars which use RI-1 and RI-2 license plates. One of them was lent to Yudhoyono.
"[Yudhoyono] has given us his word to return the car as soon as possible," Djumala said at the presidential palace complex in Central Jakarta on Tuesday (21/03).
He said that after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s inauguration on Oct. 20, 2014, the former president borrowed the car for his personal use.
"SBY needed the car for the inauguration, so we lent it to him," Djumala added, referring to the former president by his nickname.
Separately, State Secretary Minister Pratikno said the state should buy new cars for Jokowi since the ones in the current fleet often break down.
"This is an urgent issue, in my opinion. But the president hasn't said anything about it. I've asked to speak about it with him, but he denied my request," Pratikno said on Tuesday.
Jokowi's presidential car has broken down several times. Last weekend, during a work visit to West Kalimantan, the RI-1 car broke down again.
The car had also experienced troubles in Jokowi's previous visits to Banjarnegara in Central Java and to Ponorogo in East Java.
However, Jokowi has repeatedly rejected his advisor’s recommendation to procure new presidential cars.
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