Indonesian Lawmakers Get More Money Following Mass Protests Over Their Perks

A new raise in the allowance for Indonesian lawmakers is sparking fresh anger in Indonesia, just weeks after mass protests over excessive perks for legislators swept the Southeast Asian archipelago, the BBC reported Tuesday. 

Lawmakers will now receive $42,400 in recess allowances, which is almost double the previous amount of $24,000.  

The money is intended to support lawmakers in their official duties during parliamentary recess, when lawmakers carry out tasks like visiting their electoral districts and collecting feedback from residents. Indonesia’s 580 parliamentarians take about five recesses per year.

In August, people protested a $3,000 monthly housing allowance, nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta. The allowance was later cut in a bid to quell unrest as the protests morphed into wider and violent demonstrations over corruption and economic inequality in the region’s largest economy. 

The introduction of the new recess allowance increase, in effect since the start of the latest break on Oct. 3, has renewed anger in the country.   

“It’s like Indonesians have been pranked,” Lucius Karus from Formappi, a non-profit parliamentary watchdog, told the BBC. “We were satisfied by the abolition of the housing allowance… but, in fact, another fantastic allowance has appeared.” 

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad defended the allowance, saying the prior amount was based on the 2019-2024 period and did not take into account inflation, Reuters wrote. 

Dasco, who is also a senior politician in President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra party, added that parliament was working on a digital reporting app to ensure transparency on how the allowances are spent, which the public would also be able to access. 

Lawmakers’ allowances on top of regular salaries to cover official duties are common in other countries.