JAKARTA. The House of Representatives has slammed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration for using the legislative body as a scapegoat in a controversial policy to increase car purchase allowances for top officials.

The government has recently issued a regulation mandating an increase in car purchase allowances for state officials to Rp 210.8 million (US$16,190) from Rp 116.6 million, a decision Jokowi denied approving and regretted the implementation of on Sunday. 

The government is in the process of revoking the regulation due to the President’s decision.

Although they did not publicly reject the policy, lawmakers protested on Monday that the government, in its growing opposition to the regulation, had blamed the House of Representatives.

Although the House had proposed the raise, lawmakers argued that the House possessed no power over the government to issue a presidential regulation.

“We hope the President’s aides provide an objective explanation of the policy. Don’t make us a target of attack [for the public],” House deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan said on Monday.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) politician added that besides the House, the proposal had also gained support from various state institutions, calling for the government to be fair and “not give the impression to the public that it was the House’s proposal”.

In a separate interview, House Speaker Setya Novanto concurred with his colleague, emphasizing that “the discussion went through a long process involving various parties”.

Setya added that the House would support the President’s decision to annul the regulation if it was seen as improper.

In defense of the regulation, the Cabinet Secretariat elaborated on the policy making process of the regulation. 

Cabinet Secretary Andi Wijajanto said the regulation was made after being proposed by Setya. 

Answering public criticism on Monday, Jokowi announced that he would examine the presidential regulation that would be eligible for 560 lawmakers, 132 members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), 40 justices at the Supreme Court and nine justices from the Constitutional Court.

He cited bad timing and an attempt to uphold justice as among the reasons for his decision to annul the regulation.

“This is not a good time. First, for economic reasons, second, in the name of justice and third, in light of the rise in fuel prices,” Jokowi said.

He elaborated that the rise in allowances had escaped his notice and he did not pay attention to every letter that he signed, blaming the matter on Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, who he said should have advised against the decision due to its public impact.

On Monday, presidential aides reiterated Jokowi’s decision to revoke the regulation.

Presidential Chief of Staff Luhut Panjaitan said the timing for issuing the regulation was not appropriate due to the country’s economy.

However, Luhut hinted that the House should not be blamed for the policy as he argued that the total amount it would receive would be relatively small. “If [I’m] not mistaken, the amount will be roughly Rp 175 million after tax,” he said.

Andi said the process to revoke the presidential regulation could take about 11 days and that the House and finance minister would be involved in the process.

Should it be revoked, Andi said the country would probably return to the 2010 presidential regulation, which set the allowance at Rp 116.6 million. (Margareth S. Aritonang and Ina Parlina)

Editor: Yudho Winarto