Jakarta – A coalition consisting of 56 non-governmental organizations is seeking support from religious organizations to revoke the government allowance for regional councillors, which they have said legalizes corruption.
"We hope the country's largest Muslim organization, Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), will take the lead to advocate the annulment of the government regulation," Adnan Topan Husodo, an executive at Indonesian Corruption Watch, said at NU's headquarters here Thursday. "The regulation is associated with legalized corruption."
The coalition is against the implementation and the revision of the regulation, which grants each councillor up to Rp 60 million (US$6,666) a year in the form of an operational and communications allowance. Local councils are to decide on the final amount councillors receive.
The coalition says that the regulation will encourage corruption while taking money away from health care and education projects.
NU vice chairman Masykuri Abdillah said he would convey the coalition's message to chairman Hasyim Muzadi.
"I agree that it's inhumane to ask for high allowances amid the natural disasters that have hit the country in a row and with around 45 million impoverished people living here," said Masykuri, adding that he applauded those who had rejected and returned the allowance.
On Monday, hundreds of councillors from the country's provincial, regency and municipal legislatures flooded the House of Representatives to express their opposition to a planned revision of the regulation. The councillors said they needed the operational and communications allowance to properly carry out their duties.
Commenting on the councillors' protest, Hasyim described it as "humiliating" and said it was a poor move for political representation in the country. The coalition said that most of the visiting councillors had traveled to Jakarta on money taken from their local administrations' budgets.
Coalition members also met with Father Beny Susetyo, the executive secretary of the Bishop's Council of Indonesia, at his office later on Thursday. "With other religious leaders, we will carry out civil disobedience if the government declines to revoke the regulation," Father Beny was quoted by Adnan as saying.
Father Beny told the coalition he would call on Hindu and Buddhist religious leaders, while the coalition is also planning to meet with the chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah.
"Regional administrations with little money will push their budgets to the limit just pay councillors' allowances if the revisions made by the government stipulate clusters of regional administrations with low, medium and high budget competencies," said Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency secretary general Arif Nur Alam.
"In order to generate more revenue, they will impose higher taxes that will be paid by the people. Therefore, the regulation must be revoked," he added.