Emmy Fitri & Kinanti Pinta Karana – The government faced criticism on Wednesday for its decision to increase the salaries of state officials while millions of people live in poverty.

The criticism came as details emerged that the House of Representatives had voted to increase the salaries of senior state officials by 10 to 20 percent – with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and members of his cabinet among the beneficiaries.

The issue is compounded by the existing controversy over upgrades to legislators' houses, the allocations of luxury saloons for ministers and the proposed private jet for the president.

Yuna Farhan, secretary general of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said salaries for politicians and civil servants, including the police and military, were now the most expensive item in the budget – replacing subsidies for fuel, electricity, generic drugs, fertilizers and seeds.

In total, salaries, including the recent increases for civil servants, would now cost taxpayers Rp 160,364 trillion ($17.16 billion), more than the Rp 157,820 trillion allocated for subsidies in 2010, Yuna said.

Yuma said politicians' priorities should be public service, not self-enrichment, and said there was no merit to the argument that pay rises would lessen corruption.

"They are not taking money from the public purse because they are hungry, or because their children need to be fed," Yuna said. "Most state officials already have billions of rupiah in personal savings – they are not paupers looking for pennies."

Yuna said Fitra would prepare a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court to stop the pay rises, which take effect from March.

In the 2004-2009 period, the president received a base salary of Rp 30.2 million, plus allowances of Rp 32.5 million. These will rise by 20 percent in March.

Achsanul Qosasi, deputy chairman of the House of Representative's Commission XI, which oversees the budget, said cabinet ministers would also receive a 20 percent salary hike.

"The decision to raise the salary is to improve their work and service to the public. We are talking about efficiency and productivity here," Achsanul said.

Part of the argument in favor of the increase was that the House had already increased the state budget from Rp 132 trillion to Rp 158 trillion – the government proposed Rp 165 trillion.

Danang Widoyoko, coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch, said the pay rises would not combat corruption.

"That's a misconception," Danang said. "Customs officials are good examples of why it doesn't work. Their salaries were raised but when the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] raided the office, they still found evidence of corruption."

"It's sad how the government spend so much on lavish things. There's no sense of crisis," he said. "It would be better if the budget were used for other sectors, such as education or health."