In yet another case of arrogant people in authority behaving like they’re above the law, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician struggled to contain his anger when stopped by a cop in his hometown of Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, resulting in his demotion within the party after a video of the incident went viral.
The video, which was taken on Saturday and quickly went viral over the weekend, shows then-PDI-P Bima Executive Branch Council (DPC) Chairman Ruslan Usman screaming at a cop who stopped him over his unofficial, illegal “MAN 1” license plate (which we can only assume alludes to his belief that he’s THE #1 man in Bima) on his ostentatiously red camo-painted pickup truck, which matches PDI-P’s colors.
“Don’t take my car away! You think you’re so great, don’t you?” Ruslan shouted to the cop in the video.
Well, it didn’t end well at all for Ruslan, as PDI-P has announced that he has been relieved of his DPC chairman post in Bima, effective immediately.
“Ruslan, as a party leader, should be a role model when it comes to obeying the law, not acting arrogantly like this, which is unbecoming of a party elite,” said PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto today, as quoted by Detik.
In a press conference in Bima, Ruslan admitted that he was wrong and that he apologized for berating the cop.
“I didn’t want to be wrong even if I was wrong. That’s why I was angry. For that I apologize,” he said, as quoted by local news site Kahaba today.
Under Indonesian traffic law, license plates not issued by the National Police’s Traffic Corps are forbidden, with violators subject to IDR500K (US$35.85) fine or two months’ imprisonment.
