Agence France Presse in Jakarta – Indonesia's MPs came under fire yesterday after it emerged each is entitled to a 5.8 million rupiah allowance to buy washing machines as part of a package of generous perks.

Asmara Nababan of the National Commission on Human Rights called the perks "an insult to the suffering of the country's poor". "On a daily basis, we can see beggars ranging from children to elderly folk living and sleeping on the streets yet the Government is paying for washing machines for the MPs," he said.

The Kompas Daily demanded to know why the MPs needed a washing machine allowance or an annual 35 million rupiah special "communications" allowance for work trips during parliamentary recess.

For the country's 500 members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the combined total of the two allowances was 20 billion rupiah, Kompas reported. The newspaper asked why MPs should be given the perks when the basic monthly wage for Jakartans was 286,000 rupiah and an MP's average monthly salary minus perks was 12 million rupiah. On top of their base salaries and the two allowances, the MPs also received free electricity, water and phones in their homes.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung was quoted as saying the purchase of the washing machines would "keep the DPR members' clothes clean".