Government Decided to Increase Financial Subsidy for Political Party by almost 1,000 Percent

Government has agreed to increase the subsidy for political party in the National Government Budget (APBN) and the Regional Government Budget (APBD). Starting in 2018, political party will receive Rp. 1,000 of political subsidy for every vote they get in election. Previously, they only get Rp. 108.

“The Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, has agreed on this proposal and has included it in the Alteration of the APBN of 2017 and in the Draft of the APBN of 2018, based on the Minister’s Decree No.277/MK.02/2017 issued on March 29^th 2017,” says the Executive Director of Indonesia Budget Center (IBC), Roy Salam.

With this increase, the total political subsidy distributed by the government to political parties in Indonesia will be 122 billion rupiah per year. For five years period, the subsidy will be 610 billion rupiah. Previously, the total was only 13.91 billion.

According to IBC, the subsidy should be distributed carefully, transparently, and accountable. Political party should also synchronize their budget planning among internal branches with the increase so the public can see significant changes in their performance. Financial statement from every branch should also be prepared consistently.

“Political parties had not been able to provide consistent and consolidated financial statement. As the consequence, the political subsidy distributed by the government seemed very small,” says Roy.