Father: Wow, that's really bad
Poki: Throwing away money
Father: Lying to the people
Poki: Stop, don't continue! It's embarrassing the country
Mother: What are you watching?
Father: A DPR plenary meeting...
According to parliamentary watch-dog Forum of Concerned Citizens for Indonesia's Parliament (Formappi), the recent increase in allowances for members of the House of Representatives (DPR) is not proportional to their performance.
Formappi researcher Lucius Karus believes that the huge allowances, which should ensure lawmakers work is unimpeded, actually pamper the members.
"The increase in money and the type of allowance per member are not directly proportional to their performance. This amount of money, which is far more than sufficient, should remove all obstacles for DPR members to work optimally", said Karus when contacted by Kompas.com on Tuesday August 19.
"Unfortunately, the allowance increase is not intended to boost performance. The ever-increasing allowances actually pamper DPR members", he continued.
Karus also highlighted the DPR's achievements for the 2024-2029 term, which he sees as being minimal. Out of the 42 draft laws on the priority list for 2025, the DPR has only passed one bill, the revisions of the Indonesian Military Law (TNI Law).
Meanwhile, Karus continued, the other 13 bills that were successfully passed actually came from the open cumulative list.
For example, the bills on the formation of provinces or districts/cities, as well as the follow-up to the Constitutional Court ruling, namely the State-Owned Enterprises Bill and the Mineral and Coal Mining Bill.
"So, only one bill truly demonstrates the DPR's political legislative vision", explained Karus.
Furthermore, Karus also believes that the DPR rarely criticises government policies, whether through its legislative, oversight or budgetary functions. The DPR's voice, said Karus, seems to be drowned out by the large size of the allowances they currently receive and enjoy.
"So what's the point of increasing allowances if they don't contribute to boosting members' work morale? Therefore, the allowance increase seems inappropriate", he said.
[Abridged translation by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Formappi: Tunjangan yang Terus Bertambah Memanjakan Anggota DPR, Bukan Dongkrak Kinerja".]
