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Just weeks later, Indonesia has almost doubled the key allowances for its lawmakers. protests Against excessive salaries and allowances of MPs devastated the country,
The increase has reignited public anger as the Southeast Asian nation is still recovering from violent clashes between protesters riot police In which 10 people died and at least 5,000 people were injured.
All 580 MPs will now get 702 million rupees (£31,800) as “leave allowances”, aimed at supporting work in their constituencies. Parliament Not in session.
Indonesian MPs take about five recesses per year.
Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasko Ahmed said the latest hike, which almost doubles the allowance to 400 million rupees (£18,100), came into effect on October 3.
Mr Dasco defended the increases, saying the previous amount was calculated for 2019-2024 and did not take into account subsequent increases in food and transport prices.
“So, this is not an increase, this is a policy decided by the House Secretariat after reviewing a variety of aspects,” he said, adding that the figure was not proposed by the House of Representatives but by the Secretariat.
Mr Dasco, a senior member of President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party, said Parliament was developing a digital reporting mechanism that would be open to the public to ensure transparency.
“It feels like a joke has been played on the Indonesian people,” said Lucius Karas of the nonprofit parliamentary watchdog Formapi.
“We were satisfied with the abolition of the housing allowance… but, in fact, another wonderful allowance has emerged.”
Thousands of students, workers and other citizens participated protests in August against the government’s spending priorities, which also included a pay rise for MPs.
Public outrage erupted after reports that members of the House of Representatives in the world’s third-largest democracy received a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupees (£2,315) in addition to their salaries.
The allowance, introduced last year, was about 10 times Jakarta’s minimum wage.
The protests turned into riots after the death of a motorcycle taxi driver in police action.
The violence spread to 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces, making it the deadliest outbreak of unrest in the archipelago in more than two decades. In several cities, protesters set fire to regional parliament buildings and police headquarters and looted and burned vehicles.
In the wake of the unrest, some benefits for MPs were removed, reducing the total by Rs 65.5 million (£2,973).