REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGELANG -- The general chairman of Muhammadiyah, one of the main Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Din Syamsuddin, has expressed support to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's appeal to reduce the budget.

"That is a very good idea and therefore we support it. However, we warn that must not be a mere lip service," he said, after opening a national meeting of Muhammadiyah's disaster mitigation institute at Muhammadiyah University in Magelang, Central Java, on Saturday.

He noted that the president, the vice president and ministers must all set examples so that the call for reductions would not only affect the public, but also the government.

"I hope the call is not a mere lip service, but will really be implemented," Din Syamsuddin said.

He said he believed if the call was just words, that it would be forgotten soon.

"It must really be implemented. People must not be ordered to tighten their belts, while government officials are spendthrifts. It must affect all national components," he said.

He said he had made the appeal because he had seen indications of ministers' acts in conducting impromptu visits called "blusukan". Din Syamsuddin said he hoped, after information was collected, that policies would be put in place, implemented and enforced, saying this is the tasks of the ministers. "If they keep making impromptu visits, they will only waste time," he added.

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