TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia Budget Center’s researcher Roy Salam has contested a recent argument that the implementation of regional elections through Regional Representative Councils would save more of state money. He argued that direct regional elections would make the spending of the state budget more efficient if they were held simultaneously.
“If regional elections are held simultaneously, only Rp3 trillion will be needed,” he said on Sunday, September 15, 2014.
He said the average spending of regional elections was only Rp190 billion—with the total budget required to elect governors in 33 provinces in the past five years standing at Rp6 trillion and Rp20 billion for elections in regencies. In total, the budget spent on regional elections across Indonesia was around Rp9 trillion, while the whole regional elections cost Rp16 trillion.
According to Roy, the Rp3-trillion budget only covered 0.9 percent of the General Allocation Fund, thus 99 percent of the fund was still available for spending on regional development.
Roy said elections at the provincial level only absorbed around half of the total allocated budget, while those in regencies used 70 percent of the earmarked money. He said swelling budget was the result of elections held at different times, which meant more spending on logistics.
NURIMAN JAYABUANA
