Resigning From Coordinating Minister For Political, Legal And Security Affairs, Mahfud Messages To Jokowi Continue To Collect BLBI Debts

Mahfud MD/PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

Mahfud MD revealed one of the messages he conveyed to President Joko Widodo when submitting his resignation letter from the position of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam).

The message is to remind Jokowi that the Task Force for Handling State Collection Rights for the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance Fund (BLBI Task Force) continues to work to collect state rights for the remaining debt from BLBI obligors.

Mahfud admitted that while he was working to lead the BLBI Task Force, there were still debt evaders who had not paid off their state rights for various reasons. This was revealed by Mahfud at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Central Jakarta, after meeting Jokowi at the State Palace.

"I told Mr. Presdein, 'this bill is still there because there are those who still evade, want not to pay, there are those who want to continue to bid, the debt is not like that, etc. We have closed those who have paid, it has been completed, the rest must still be billed, Mr. President because it is based on the Presidential Instruction'. So, we have to collect the BLBI because it is people who pay state money," Mahfud explained, Thursday, February 1.

To Jokowi, Mahfud also revealed the results of the work of the BLBI Task Force until the end of 2023. Now, the return of debt to the state from obligors reached 31.8 percent of the target of IDR 111 trillion. "I said, 'You once gave us the Presidential Instruction to start collecting debts from BLBI arrears, at that time the amount was IDR 111 trillion. In our 1.5 years of work, now we have collected bills that have been in our hands amounting to IDR 35.7 trillion," said Mahfud.

The Vice Presidential Candidate number 3 also revealed that the contents of his resignation letter to Jokowi contained only three paragraphs. The first paragraph, Mahfud, expressed his gratitude to Jokowi who trusted him to carry out Jabayan since October 23, 2019.

The second paragraph, Mahfud explained the reason for withdrawing to Jokowi. "Secondly, because I am now participating in a political contestation to continue the national leadership relay that must continue, I beg you to stop," said Mahfud.

The third paragraph, Mahfud, apologizes to Jokowi if there are shortcomings that are not pleasing to Jokowi while in government.

"He was also happy during the meeting, he joked a lot, I also smiled a lot, was happy, yes like an old friend, lah," said Mahfud.