Antara

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has rejected the proposed constituency fund plan endorsed by the House of Representatives, dashing lawmakers'€™ hopes of additional sources of funding for their respective electoral districts.

Member of the presidential communications team Teten Masduki said one of the reasons for Jokowi'€™s dismissal of the plan to grant approximately Rp 20 billion (US$1.5 million) to each of the 560 lawmakers for regional development projects was the country'€™s economic slowdown.

'€œThe President did not want the constituency fund [plan to be realized] because, not only are the economy and finances in a tough situation, but also because it relates to the separation of powers between the executive and the legislative,'€ said Teten.

'€œThe President insisted that a fundamental change in the separation of powers between the executive and the legislature should not occur,'€ he added.

Having officially approved a regulation to formally cap the disbursement of the constituency funds last week, the House is expected to execute its proposal immediately ahead of a one-month recess beginning on July 11, when lawmakers are expected to return to their respective electoral districts for discussions on development projects.

The House has scheduled a plenary meeting this week to listen to lawmakers'€™ proposals regarding services to be delivered for their constituents, which will be officially submitted by the House'€™s secretary-general to the government for implementation.

Supporters of the constituency fund scheme argued that the total of Rp 11.2 trillion to be allocated to lawmakers annually was a way to help them realize their campaign promises to develop their electoral districts.

However, Teten said Jokowi instead encouraged lawmakers to fight for development projects to be delivered to their constituencies during the deliberation of the 2016 state budget. Jokowi had ordered Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro to formally convey his objections to the House, added Teten.

The constituency funds were expected to provide additional financial support in addition to the Rp 150 million that lawmakers receive every recess period.

The House has recently increased the recess periods to five times every year. Previously the House only implemented three recesses.

The House'€™s chairmanship has already announced that the constituency fund plan would be unlikely to happen if the government and the House did not agree.

On Monday, the Golkar Party'€™s faction at the House, which was among the seven factions that endorsed the proposal, appeared to backtrack somewhat, referring also to the economic slowdown.

Leader of Golkar faction, Ade Komarrudin, said the party was pessimistic about the plan being implemented soon. '€œWe'€™ll see about the state budget. It'€™s good if we can run the program immediately. But we will not force it if there is not enough money,'€ he said on the sidelines of an internal discussion on the matter organized by the party faction.

Besides Golkar, supporters of the proposal also include the Gerindra Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Democratic Party, United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), leaving the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the NasDem Party and Hanura on the opposition side.

In the move to further discuss challenges to the constituency fund scheme, Golkar brought in Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki to the discussion on Monday, who told reporters '€œthe KPK would closely monitor the use of the funds'€.

'€œWe are not in the position to support or not support the proposal. We just need to remind about [the need for] transparency and accountability if the plan is eventually implemented,'€ he said.

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