Edi Baskoro, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s lawmaker son, cannot be blamed for a 20-minute delay on a Garuda Indonesia flight over the weekend, a senior Democratic Party official said on Tuesday.
Reported on Tuesday that firearms carried by Edi’s bodyguards had allegedly held up security checks as they boarded a flight from Jakarta to Solo. Detik said the guards had been stopped and asked to check their guns.
Achmad Mubarok, a member of the Democrat’s advisory board, said Garuda was to blame for the delay, not Edi.
“Don’t blame Ibas,” Achmad told, referring to Edi by his nickname. “The carrier should be responsible. It shows the weakness of our culture’s mentality that they must always bow to people in power.”
He said Edi was with a group of party officials destined for Solo on a work trip.
Achmad said Edi was “a fair man,” and would never use his influence to hold up a flight.
On Sunday, reported that another Garuda domestic flight was delayed by a few minutes as it waited for the arrival of Taufik Kurniawan, a deputy speaker for the House of Representatives.
Taufik denied on Sunday that he was the reason for the delay.
“What had happened at that time was I asked Garuda Indonesia about whether the departure would be delayed or not,” Taufik said. “I basically just wanted to inform them that my position was near the airport.”
He pointed out that as former deputy chairman of the House’s Commission V, which oversees transportation, he knew the regulations well.
“I never forced them to delay the flight,” he said.
