Budget Politics of Aceh Province’s Special Autonomy Fund for Poverty Alleviation

Abstract

Fifteen years into the implementation of Aceh’s special autonomy, poverty still ranks Aceh the poorest province on the island of Sumatra. The high number and percentage of poverty are due to the budget allocation of the Special Autonomy Fund being allocated to other issues; the allocation of the Poverty Alleviation Special Autonomy Fund over the last five years has not been a priority in the development program in Aceh Province, poverty alleviation being the fourth priority after infrastructure, education and health. This research seeks to discover the factors that become obstacles and ineffectiveness of the Special Autonomy Fund Budget Politics in Poverty Alleviation in Aceh Province. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study as a research strategy. This research uses three data collection techniques: First, documentation in the form of policy documents, papers, journals, or books from previous research. Second, in-depth interviews. Third, observation. Data analysis techniques used in qualitative research include transcribing interview results, data reduction, data analysis and interpretation. Aceh’s failed poverty alleviation was caused by the government’s failure to address its poverty. Factors contributing to poverty in Aceh’s poverty reduction include lack of poverty-related employment, inadequate government support, insufficient infrastructure and income related to prosperity, low human resource income, insufficient political participation, and corruption.