Finance Minister Agrees to Compensate Deceased Election Officers

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani responds to reporters’ questions after a Plenary Cabinet Meeting, at Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday (23/4). (Photo by: Jay/PR)

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati gave the green light to a suggestion of Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Arief Budiman to provide compensation for election officers who died while carrying out their tasks of securing the 2019 Simultaneous Elections on 17 April 2019.

The Minister conveyed the message of condolences on the passing of election officers and said that distributing compensation for their families is really important.

“Regarding the compensation, the Government can accommodate the budget by using extraordinary budget allocation standard,” Sri Mulyani told reporters after a Plenary Cabinet Meeting, at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday (23/4).

The Minister will distribute the compensation according to the provisions of laws and regulations to match  the needs.

For the record, the KPU has reported that until 22 April 2019, 91 polling station working committee (KPPS) officers in 19 provinces reportedly died and 374 under medical treatment.

On Monday (22/4), the Chairman of KPU Arief Budiman told that the Commission planned to visit Finance Ministry to discuss the budget provision for the compensation.

“The KPU proposed compensation money for relatives of the deceased officers amounting to Rp30-36 million, while those who are disabled due to illness or accident are given a maximum amount of Rp30 million. As for those injured, we propose they get a maximum compensation of Rp16 million,” Arief explained. (UN/JAY/ES)

Translated by : Rany Anjany Subachrum
Edited by : Yuyu Mulyani