TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has apologized to ministers and high state officials for not increasing their salaries during his 10 years in office in a speech uploaded to his personal YouTube account on Sunday.
The statement also means that the policy to increase salaries of ministers and other top officials is in the hands of president-elect Joko Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla.
Yudhoyono explained the government had actually planned for a raise for ministers and state officials since 2005, but the plans were delayed as the government decided to prioritize raising the salaries of low-level civil servants, whose salaries have quadrupled.
He added he had also increased the salary of lawmakers at the House of Representatives, members of the People's Consultative Assembly, justices of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court justices.
The outgoing president also said the salaries of governors and deputy governors had not been increased either during his time, adding that their needs would still be fulfilled by the regulation allowing them to accept incentives.
According to Yudhoyono, the government scrapped the plans to increase top officials' salaries as it deemed that it was unethical to ratify the plans amid shrinking budgets and higher power rate and LPG prices.
“The new president is welcomed to review the salary increase draft that we’ve compiled,” he said.
FRANSISCO ROSARIANS
