Prabowo Boasts Indonesian Judges' Salaries Exceed Those in Malaysia

President Prabowo Subianto stated that the Supreme Court in ASEAN is impressed because judges’ salaries in Indonesia are far higher than in their countries.

He made this remark during the handover of Rp10.2 billion from the collection of administrative forest fines by the PKH Task Force at the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday (13/5).

Prabowo said he was pleased when informed by Chief Justice Sunarto that for the first time, Indonesian judges’ salaries have exceeded those in Malaysia.

“He had just finished a meeting of ASEAN Supreme Court chiefs. Then the Chief Justice of Malaysia told the Chief Justice of Indonesia, ‘Your Honour, I salute Indonesia. For the first time, Indonesian judges’ salaries are above Malaysian judges’ salaries’,” Prabowo recounted.

He even said that salaries for young judges in Indonesia are almost twice those of young judges in Malaysia. Prabowo explained that this was achieved because at the start of his leadership, he decided to raise judges’ salaries by 280 per cent.

“I wanted 300 per cent, but the Finance Minister only agreed to 280 per cent. Alright then. But we’ve made a leap,” he clarified.

Not only that, Prabowo mentioned that the salary of Indonesia’s Chief Justice has also surpassed that of the Chief Justice in Singapore.

Therefore, he believes Indonesia is no less competitive with other ASEAN countries in terms of law enforcement. Prabowo is convinced that the salary increase for judges will address issues of corruption or legal processes in the Judiciary.

“That’s why we must respect our judges, select them well, and provide them with sufficient income so that our judges cannot be bribed,” he stressed.

“I instruct the Chief Justice, I instruct all judges, remember that your decisions will be judged by the people. Your decisions will be studied. And our society and people are no longer ignorant,” he added.