Alfian, Jakarta – The government has announced it will allocate Rp 10.4 trillion (US$1.14 billion) to finance the 2009 general election, half the budget proposed by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"The reduction is done in a spirit of efficiency," director general of budget at the Finance Ministry, Achmad Rochjadi, told Detik.com newsportal after attending a meeting to discuss the general elections budget at the Vice Presidential Palace.

"The amount, however, is not yet final (and is) waiting for the deliberation of the bill on political parties at the House of Representatives," he said.

In addition to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the meeting was also attended by Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto, Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata, and National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) chief Paskah Suzetta.

The KPU proposed a budget of Rp 22.3 trillion, to be taken from the state budget, and another Rp 25.6 trillion, which could be taken from regional budgets. The KPU also said the budget was for preparations and activities in 2008 and 2009.

The government provided RP 2.3 trillion from the state budget for the 2004 polls. There were, however, additional funds allocated from the regional budget.

Achmad said efficiency efforts included the use of ballot boxes from the 2004 polls as well as increasing the number of voters at each polling station.

"We also do not need special funding for security as it is already the duty of the National Police. Maybe we only need to provide them with meals," he said. "Another way is using ID cards for voter identification instead of issuing a special ID for the election."

The size of ballot papers could also be minimized and using cheaper materials similar to those used for newspapers, he said, and instead of punching through candidates' names, voters could write down the names, thus reducing the ballot paper size.

Meanwhile, KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said that he had yet to hear a detailed explanation of the Rp 10.4 trillion figure decided by the government. "I don't know yet whether that Rp 10.4 trillion is for two years or for one year only. We will see what they mean with that figure," said Abdul when The Jakarta Post contacted him.

However, he said, if the money was for two years then it would be irrational. "That figure is far beyond the actual need."

One factor behind the large budget is the increased honorarium for officials at polling stations.

"The honorarium is well below the minimum wage. We cannot raise it with only a Rp 10.4 trillion budget," Abdul said. "It will be a high risk to lower their honorarium. They may possibly refuse to work or they will work but be easily tempted to violate regulations."

Abdul also said the KPU and the vice president would soon form a small team including officials from the Finance Ministry, Home Affairs Ministry and Bappenas to discuss a more detailed election budget.