Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The government's decision to allocate Rp 1.5 trillion ($123 million) towards election witness fees has sparked controversy among political parties.
The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) maintains its stance rejecting the government's policy to use the state budget to pay witness fees claiming the decision would only benefit the ruling party.
"We prefer to pay for our own witnesses like we always have," lawmaker Maruarar Sirait said on Wednesday. Maruarar said the public clearly rejected the idea of spending the state budget to pay for the witness fees.
PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo said his party preferred to pay for witnesses because there are no definite regulations that stipulate the distribution of witness fees.
"What about accountability? Who will disburse the funds and distribute them to the witnesses?" he said. "Witnesses from political parties should be paid by those parties, don't burden the state budget, we don't have enough money because there are natural disasters everywhere," he said.
But Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik denied that the policy would put unnecessary burden on the state budget. Jero, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said the policy should be lauded as a breakthrough because the 2014 election would affect everybody in the country.
"We need witnesses and it's too bothersome for the political parties to raise the funds to pay them, so I believe this is a good plan," he told Indonesian news portal Merdeka.com.
Abdul Hakam Naja deputy chairman of House Commission II, previously said the witness fee idea was initially suggested by the government. Hakam said that on one occasion, the Home Affairs Ministry invited members of House Commission II, General Elections Committee (KPU) and Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) for a consultation meeting.
"It was initially suggested by the government. We [from Commission II] were invited to a consultation meeting at the Home Affairs Ministry. So, this decision about the witness fee was a joint decision between the government, KPU, Bawaslu and DPR [House of Representatives]," Hakam said.
He said the witness fee was mainly intended to meet the principle of fairness. It was also important to ensure that an honest and fair general election would take place.
"The government recommended the witness fee for Bawaslu and for every political party to meet the principle of fairness. Rich political parties can send many witnesses to polling stations, but parties with less money cannot afford it," said Hakam, who is a National Mandate Party politician.
Hakam said the DPR and Bawaslu responded positively to the government's suggestion and agreed to provide a budget totaling Rp 1.5 trillion, with Rp 800 billion allocated for Bawaslu's witnesses and Rp 700 billion for witnesses from political parties.
"I think this is a good start. We are often worried about political parties being funded by the state and also afraid if political parties are funded by rich people like entrepreneurs. We have options and we are making a decision," he said.
Agun Gunanjar, chairman of House Commission II, said the witness fee could not be misused.
"The Rp 54.5 billion fund disbursement will not be given to the parties. The money is for KPPS [Polling Station Working Committees] officers, the money is for general election organizers to pay the witnesses. So, it's not for political parties. It will be disbursed after the job is done at the polling stations, by name and by the polling stations. How can one cheat?" Agun asked.
He lamented the fact that some people tried to politicize the matter. He said the witness fee was no different compared to the budget for ballot papers, and election logistics.
"There's an opinion that the fund was for political parties. The fund is intended for general election implementation, similar to the funds for ballot papers. The difference is that it will be for witnesses. It will not be rolled out to political parties," the Golkar politician said.