The DPR Said, They Are Postponing The Purchase Of Cars Of Council Members For Handling COVID-19

Member of the DPR for the period 2019-2024 (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - A letter with the head of the Secretariat General and the Expertise Body of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) numbered SJ / 4824 / SETJEN AND BK DPR RI / PK.02 / 4/2020 concerning the down payment for vehicle purchases for board members circulating on social media and short message application.

The letter, which was signed by the Secretary General of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Indra Iskandar and dated April 6, stated that members of the DPR RI who were inaugurated on April 1 will receive facilities in the form of down payment for the purchase of individual vehicles amounting to Rp. 11,650,000.

This money will be deducted from income tax by 15 percent and will be transferred on April 7 if it is in accordance with the letter. The down payment, written in a letter, refers to Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 68/2010 concerning the Provision of Advances for State Officials at State Institutions for the Purchase of Individual Vehicles.

Responding to the circulation of the letter, Secretary General of the Indonesian Parliament Indra Iskandar said the letter had been postponed and the budget had been diverted to other programs, especially for handling the COVID-19 pandemic. "It has been pending, yes. (The postponement) was as of yesterday," said Indra when confirmed by VOI, Wednesday, April 8.

He then explained that this delay was also due to the fact that the DPR was saving money after its budget was cut after the issuance of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 54 of 2020 concerning Posture Changes and Details of the 2020 Fiscal Year State Budget which was published on Friday, April 3.

In the Presidential Decree, if previously the DPR received a budget of Rp. 5.1 trillion, now the institution that represents the community gets a budget of Rp. 4.8 trillion after the issuance of the Perpres. "In accordance with Presidential Decree No. 54/2020, the DPR's budget is also cut for handling COVID-19," said the Secretary General of the DPR RI.

Circular for funding car advances (Special)

Must be proven

Even though they have postponed and focused their budget on handling the corona virus pandemic, however, Researcher of the Indonesian Parliamentary Concern Community Forum (Formappi) Lucius Karus feels that the delay must be formally proven through a circular. Because, without showing the letter, Lucius said that the postponement could only be an alibi to calm the public.

"At least they have a letter to the members to explain the postponement. Maybe it's just an alibi, a delay. Because just last April 6, this letter came out, while the plan to divert the budget from the government was one week ago," said Lucius when asked for his response. .

This researcher assesses that the circular, of course, is very disturbing to the public. Especially at the time of the spread of the virus which resulted in the death of hundreds of people, the Indonesian Parliament was still rowdy by discussing controversial Bills such as the Omnibus Law on Job Creation and the RKUHP.

Even if this happens in the midst of a pandemic like this, Lucius questions how much money will be used to finance the down payment for these individual vehicles. In fact, at the same time many medical personnel and the community were exposed to COVID-19 and complained about the lack of health facilities.

The emergence of this circular also proves how difficult it is to hope that the DPR can work to find a solution to this pandemic with the government. "This also confirms that the DPR does not seem to have any concern for the current fate of the people so that they work normally as if nothing had happened. The discussion of legislation continues, the budget that has already been provided must be used," he said.

He also said that the emergence of this circular letter could be a bad initial capital for the Indonesian Parliament for the 2019-2024 period to attract public trust. Given, until now there has been no effort to improve the performance of this institution.

"The new DPR has actually been living up to life since the beginning of the old dreams that were once criticized by the public. There was no effort to bring about change, everything was just repeating what was in the previous period even with criticism and even public insults."

Member of the DPR for the period 2019-2024 (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Asfinawati also commented on the circular letter. He said, seeing the current state of the country's economy, it was no longer possible for every state institution including the DPR to use the facilities as usual when there was no COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, he considered that instead of receiving a down payment for the purchase of a car, why didn't the officials at the Turtle Building cut the facilities they got and collect it. "Create new or extraordinary schemes related to subsidies and others. In particular, officials who have more money and a safe standard of living will not decrease. This is the first humanitarian issue," said Asfinawati.

This human rights activist also emphasized that the contents of this circular letter were very inappropriate to implement during the time of the spread of COVID-19 which made many lower class people suffer because of a slumping economy. "Workers everywhere have been sent home without a salary. Online drivers have committed suicide. This is a matter of propriety. Ethical or not," he said.