President, House agree to regulate official wages

President, House agree to regulate official wages

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At the height of debate over a request by Bank Indonesia's board
of governors for a hefty salary hike, the government and
lawmakers will be pushing for the drafting of a new law which
will regulate, among other things, appropriate wages for state
officials.

The decision was taken during an informal meeting between
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and House of Representatives
Speaker Agung Laksono at the Presidential Palace on Friday.

In a press conference after the meeting, Susilo and Agung said
the new law would consist of a fixed remuneration system for
state officials in order to close the existing, sometimes huge,
salary gap among state officials.

The new law is expected to take affect in 2007, with
deliberation set to start next year.

"During this time of economic hardship, it is not appropriate
for state officials to ask for an excessive salary hike. That is
why a new remuneration system based on the principles of fairness
and appropriateness is needed to address the issue," said Susilo.

"The current system needs restructuring, upon learning that
many officials received much lower salaries than others of the
same level," he said, adding that the system has to uphold the
principle of fairness for all officials in order to improve their
performance.

Recent proposals to raise the salaries of senior state
officials have been publicly condemned given the current
budgetary constraints and lack of funds for improvements in the
education and health sectors.

But the debate over such issues reached new heights when Bank
Indonesia recently proposed to legislators an increase in the
salaries of its board of governors to between Rp 107.29 million
(US$10,940) and Rp 141.32 million per month -- the highest
representing more that three times the President's basic salary
of some Rp 30 million.

In the proposal, each of them would also be entitled to
receive over Rp 1.4 billion to finance 10 foreign visits a year,
comprising a total of Rp 384 million in rank allowances, Rp 672
million in per diem allowances and Rp 350 million for tickets.

Agung, however, said that legislators were unlikely to approve
the request, since it was considered excessive amid the difficult
economic conditions faced by the public.

During the conference, Susilo also underscored the need for
the government to prioritize a salary rise for civil servants, as
well as military and police personnel, before considering an
salary increase for high-ranking state officials.

Also on Friday's meeting, Susilo and Agung discussed efforts
to speed up the deliberation of bills to help improve the
management of the country, following the failure of the
government and the House to meet the target of issuing 55 new
laws this year.

"Of the targeted 55 laws this year, we only manage to enact 14
laws. The remaining bills will be included in next year's target
of 77 laws. The government agreed to revise the way it drafts a
bill in order to speed up the deliberation process," said Agung.

Agung also said that President Susilo agreed to officially
open the gathering of legislators from the Asia-Pacific rim in
the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, which is scheduled for Jan.
16 to Jan. 20.