M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A coalition of corruption watchdogs has asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revoke a regulation that increases allowances for councillors of provinces, regencies and cities.
The coalition said Thursday that by issuing the regulation, Yudhoyono had unwittingly endorsed a massive swindle of taxpayer money.
The coalition includes Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Transparency International Indonesia, The Partnership for Governance Reform and Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anti-Graft Studies (Pukat).
"Although government regulations state that the payment of the allowance has to take into account the capability of the local budget, a number of local administrations have paid the councillors the maximum amount and as a result these regions suffer from a budget deficit. This is corruption," Denny Indrayana of Pukat said at a press conference.
The coalition has estimated that in the next five years, close to Rp 17.5 trillion (US$1.9 billion) of taxpayer money will have to be earmarked for councillors' allowances, which include attendance fees, family allowances, communication allowances and meal costs.
Denny said most regencies in the country, who already have barely enough money to pay for public services, will likely suffer from a chronic budget deficit once the new regulation takes effect.
"How can poor regencies such as Bulukumba in South Sulawesi, with a regional income of Rp 5 billion, or Yahukimo in Papua with a local income of only Rp 911 million, pay these allowances, which can go as high as Rp 5 billion (per regency) in one year?" Denny asked.
The coalition also criticized the fact that the raise was retroactive. The regulation was issued on Nov. 14 last year, but ordered the increased allowances to be paid dating back to January.
A number of local administrations have started paying out the new allowances. The Banten provincial administration, for example, paid the allowance to councillors only one week after the regulation was issued.
Under the new scheme, each council member will get an additional allowance of Rp 108 million per year, while council leaders and deputies will get an additional Rp 342 million and Rp 223 million per year respectively.
On Wednesday, the Finance Ministry issued a directive that the payment of the allowance must not exceed the capability of local budgets.
The coalition is expected to seek a judicial review on the regulation from the Supreme Court later this month.
Bambang Widjojanto of ICW said the raise in allowances was politically motivated. "The timing could not be more perfect. The government will soon deliberate 11 political laws with the House of Representatives and it really needs support from political factions," Bambang said.
He suspected that the new allowance scheme was devised to bribe political parties. "This is a new type of corruption, politics taking precedence over budget," Bambang said.