The House of Representatives is divided over the so-called constituency funds as the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has indicated its support for the plan.

The PDI-P has hinted that it would support the plan by including provisions on the constituency funds into a revision of the Legislative Institution (MD3) Law.

PDI-P politician Hasto Kristiyanto said the faction could support the plan if the legislative body agreed to maintain the current method of electing candidates to seats in the House.

According to Hasto, the proposal for constituency funds was motivated by the '€œvery liberal'€ method of a direct legislative election, referring to the mixed open proportional method under which voters are expected to elect individual party candidates instead of giving their vote to the political party itself.

'€œWhen lawmakers promise to give something to their constituents, they should have the option of fulfilling these [political promises] not only through budgets from the government, but also through the budgeting authority that the House possesses,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Hasto maintained that lawmakers should have the option to propose programs for their constituencies both through government mechanisms and their legislative functions.

He said this could be achieved if the current direct election system was changed. '€œWe previously failed to push through the use of the closed proportional system of elections. If that was put in place, I'€™m sure that there would be no need for the constituency funds,'€ he explained.

Last week, the House budget committee proposed a budget ceiling of Rp 20 billion per lawmaker or a total of Rp 11.2 trillion for the constituency funds planned for the 2016 state budget.

Lawmakers decided to put a definitive number on the constituency funds starting next year in order to make it easier for House members to secure funding to develop their voting areas through the regional budgets (APBD).

This would allow lawmakers to consult with their constituents to propose regional development projects and meet their demands.

Meanwhile, the People'€™s Conscience (Hanura) Party rejected the plan on Thursday.

Hanura party faction head Nurdin Tampubolon said that it was not the job of the House to handle and control funding for regional development.

Nurdin said that lawmakers should stick to their job of conveying the aspirations of the voters they represented to the government, he insisted.

'€œWe at the Hanura Party don'€™t want to participate in any tasks that are beyond the House'€™s functions. Right now, we see that this program is not urgent enough to be implemented. We would rather focus on more pressing issues, such as the slumping economy,'€ Nurdin told reporters during a press conference at the House complex on Thursday.

Hanura is the second faction that has made its stance on the proposal public.

Earlier this week, the NasDem Party faction officially opposed the plan, saying that it had no strong legal ground.

Separately, Golkar Party politician Misbakhun defended the constituency funds proposal, saying that it could help bridge the gaps between regions in the country.

He said the mechanism was needed to address the unequal distribution of development initiatives nationwide. '€œWe'€™re speaking of a discrepancy [in development] for 77 constituencies [around the country],'€ he told reporters in a press briefing.

Also on Thursday, antigraft activists staged a rally in front of the House compound to reject the constituency funds proposal.

The coalition, represented by Apung Widadi from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA), lambasted the House'€™s decision to amend the MD3 Law to include the constituency funds provision.

'€œThere is the problem of potential corruption, misuse and complacency among legislators in fulfilling their duties,'€ Apung said.

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