Indonesia nearly doubles lawmakers' recess allowance

Indonesia has nearly doubled a key allowance for its lawmakers, an official said on Oct 13, one month after cancelling some of the benefits for parliamentarians in an effort to assuage public anger following a series of violent demonstrations.

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In August, thousands of students, rights groups and other civilians joined protests against the government’s spending priorities, including pay rises for lawmakers. The demonstrations later spiralled into riots after a motorcycle taxi driver was killed during a police operation.

The violence, which spread to 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces, resulted in 10 deaths and at least 5,000 arrests, making it the deadliest outbreak of unrest in the archipelago for more than two decades.