Anita Rachman – The Golkar Party's follow-up proposal to allocate Rp 1 billion ($108,000) for development in each of the country's villages and subdistricts, after its earlier plan to give every lawmaker Rp 15 billion was shot down, appears to be heading for the same ignominious fate.

Tjatur Sapto Edy, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legislation and a National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker, said Golkar's newest proposal was a rehash of an idea brought up several years ago to develop remote regions.

However, he said, it should not be up to legislators to name the sum awarded to each region.

"It's true that legislators must be accountable to their constituents, but development programs should be discussed at the local level," he said. "Local administrations can then prioritize the necessary programs for the people, whether it's a new bridge or a dam, for instance."

Tjatur added that Golkar's prospects of pushing the proposal through the House were slim, pointing out that with between 70,000 and 72,000 villages and subdistricts, the scale of the funding would be immense. "Taking Rp 70 trillion from the state budget is not a trifling matter," he said.

House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, a Golkar stalwart, said on Tuesday that the party was preparing to propose the scheme if its earlier idea to allocate funds to each House legislator to develop their constituencies was rejected.

Fahri Hamzah, of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said his party had opposed the pork-barrel plan and would also shout down the latest proposal. He stressed that legislators should not be involved in deciding how the state budget was spent. "No, we're not taking money back to our constituents," he said.

Ganjar Pranowo, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also criticized Golkar, calling on it to come up with a detailed program rather than just throwing out random figures. Such a proposal, he said, should be based on a feasible program.

"The PDI-P once analyzed a similar program and came up with a figure of at least Rp 2 billion for each village and subdistrict," Ganjar said. "But what's important here is the program, not the figure."

He added that if Golkar really had the public's interest at heart, it would push for amendments to the 2004 Regional Governments Law and lobby the government to allocate more of the state budget to the regions.

Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said Golkar's latest idea was simply a face-saving move after the lashing it took over the pork-barrel plan.

"The intent is good, but the program is unclear," he said. "Why the fixed Rp 1 billion per village? Did it occur to them that one village might need more than another?"

Burhanuddin pointed out that villages in Papua would definitely require more funding than villages in Java, for instance. He said if Golkar wanted the House to treat it seriously, it should draw up a clear plan. "If they only throw out raw figures like this, they're going to be shot down again," he said.