Budget-Brokering People’s Representatives
The DPR resembles a clearing house for illicit transactions when public policy is being made. The formulation of budgets or deliberations on the articles of draft laws are often tainted by money politics. Regional chiefs scramble to pay bribes in order to get their budget allocations.
May 18, 2011
THE two men met at a restaurant on the third floor of Plaza Senayan, Jakarta. The first was Jefferson Soleiman Montesqieu Rumajar, mayor of Tomohon, North Sulawesi. The other man was Setya Novanto, chairman of the Golkar Party faction at the House of Representatives (DPR). After dispensing with greetings and small talk, the two occupied a table.
That night in October 2009, according to a source who knows about this meeting, Setya asked: “Do yo
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