Top officials 'undeserving' of pay raise

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's plan to increase the take-home pay of the President, Vice President, ministers, and high-ranking state officials met with mixed reactions on Wednesday amid the government's appeal for the public to be thrifty.

High-ranking state officials do not deserve raises due to their poor performance, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) deputy Luki Djani said.

"They haven't materialized any of their promises made during the campaigns, and yet have been able to introduce preventive measures to anticipate the many crises we face," he said.

Awaiting discussion with the House of Representatives for approval, the government plans to increase the take-home pay by 5 percent for the President, Vice President, ministers and other state officials, 7 percent for first echelon officials, and by between 15 percent and 30 percent for other civil servants.

Luki said, however, that increasing the pay of civil servants, police and teachers was logical and should be supported to help them improve their welfare. He said it was not acceptable to raise the pay of first echelon civil servants, let alone the President and Vice President.

"This is like a game. The government and the House propose raises together, and approve each other's request, so they all benefit," he said.

The House recently proposed that the take-home pay for its 550 members be doubled, which also needs to be discussed with the government before being approved.

"From their wealth reports, we know that the President, Vice President and ministers were already rich before taking office. Apart from their take-home pay, they enjoy other allowances and facilities," Luki said.

He went on to say that high-ranking Indonesian government officials and legislator enjoyed a "more luxurious" take-home pay than that their counterparts in the Netherlands and Thailand.

"Our legislators receive higher salaries than those in Thailand, a country with (other) incomes three and a half times more than Indonesia. In the Netherlands, state officials and legislators don't get salaries if their activities or businesses outside their positions earn them more," he explained.

Legislator A.M. Fatwa, who is a deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, said now was not the right time for top state officials to get increases.

"But these proposals should be discussed to reexamine our payment system because, honestly, it's not proportional. How come legislators at the national level receive less than those in regions, or why does the President get less than a director of a state enterprise?" he argued.

Support for the proposal came from Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid and House deputy speaker Zaenal Ma'arif.

"With a pay increase, the public will have stronger grounds to demand that the government improve its performance as well as curb corruption. They could go all-out," said Zaenal.

Hidayat said the pay increase could be considered a form of appreciation for state officials for their achievements in running the country.