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View all search resultsHouse vows transparency amid alleged recess fund hike
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Final document: House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani (second right), accompanied by her deputy speakers, Saan Mustopa (second left) and Sufmi Dasco Ahmad (right), receives a final opinion document from Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Rini Widyantini during a House plenary session on Thursday in the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Asprilla Dwi dAha)
T
he House of Representatives has denied reports of a fresh increase in lawmakers’ recess allowances, asserting its commitment to reform pledges as experts urge for stronger transparency and accountability in the use of the funds.
A report by Tempo magazine last week alleged that each of the 580 lawmakers serving the 2024–2029 term had received a higher recess allowance of Rp 756 million (US$45,482) per member, up from Rp 702 million, for the current recess period.
The alleged increase came only months after the allowance was raised in May from Rp 400 million, which had applied throughout the 2019–2024 term, to Rp 702 million for the ongoing term.
The recess allowance is intended to fund lawmakers’ visits to their respective electoral districts, where they are expected to collect public input from their constituencies. Recess periods typically last about a month and occur five times this year.
House Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who also serves as an executive in President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party, denied the alleged raise, saying that some lawmakers received Rp 756 million due to a “human error” by the House Secretariat General.
“I don’t know [what happened], perhaps a human error. A few House members ended up receiving [Rp 756 million], which made them question what [the increase] was for. When informed of the overpayment, they withdrew and returned the money,” Dasco told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
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