Illustration of a commission meeting at the House of Representatives building (Photo: Twitter/@DPR_RI)
The government through the Home Affairs Ministry is planning to raise political party funding. The increase is said to be followed by an accountable and open management of the fund.
Kemendagri is currently drafting a revision of Government Regulation No. 5/2009 on Financial Aid to Political Parties.
"We [are still] in the stage of proposal and this will be discussed in the state annual budget draft, waiting to be ratified by the allocation committee," said the Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo.
The funding will be increased from the current Rp 108 to Rp 1,000 per valid vote obtained during the previous election.
"Now we're trying to propose [funding rate] for Rp 1,000 from Rp 108, which has been remained for 20 years. It's reasonable," Tjahjo said.
The proposal still has to through the House of Representatives. If approved, the fund obtained by each political party may vary, depending on the number of votes earned during the election.
Meanwhile, anti-graft agency (KPK) spokesperson Febri Diansyah urged for a transparent management if the proposal is approved later.
"Political parties normally require funding and such money should be managed withaccountabilityand transparency," said Febri at the KPK building, Jakarta, Monday.
Febri added that the increase should be adjusted to the government's financial capability. Thus, he suggested that the plan to be discussed with the Ministry of Finance as well.
"The calculation won't be as simple as how much a party can earn. This requires further discussion and it is more technical and should be tailored to country's capability. It needs to involve the Ministry of Finance. The mapping is more widespread than the needs of a party," Febri said.
Objection
On the other side, Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) assessed that the funding increase for political party was not yet necessary. Such plan is feared to make the state budget swell.
"Fitra rejects it. There's no guarantee that such funds can prevent corruption," said Fitra's deputy secretary Apung Widadi to Detik, Tuesday.
Apung said that the political parties in Indonesia is lack of good system, which meant they are not ready to receive big financial assistance from the state.
"It could turn into another corruption field. Many of corruption cases [involving] regional heads involve political party funds, for instance in Jepara," said Apung.
Similar plan was proposed by Tjahjo in 2015 and despite gaining approval from the State Palace, he dropped his plan due to rejections from a number of lawmakers.
The political party funding itself is used to maintain the independence of the parties in order to keep prioritizing to promote the interest of members or parties, not the sponsors'. The funding also aims to discourage political parties from resorting to graft when looking for funding for their activities.
Based on the last 2014 election, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) received the biggest funding due to the number of vote the party earned, followed by Golkar, and Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and Democratic Party.
(brl/red)
