Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/16/2008 10:03 AM
Who profits the most from the hundreds of elections held across Indonesia every year?
"It is the tukang sablon (screen-printed banner makers) and election consultants," according to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is also a prominent businessman.
He said all political parties and candidates running in elections at the grassroots and central levels used street banners for their political campaigns.
"Just look at the trees along the streets: They are covered with pictures and giant banners of candidates or political parties. The screen-printed banner business is truly a promising election business," Kalla told a weekend seminar organized by alumni from the Institute of Public Administration.
According to Kalla, more than 500 elections, including to elect village heads, are held across the country each year.
"So there is one election held every three days. It is really not efficient. The budget for all these elections could reach double that for the education sector," Kalla said.
"To make it worse, the elections often have social costs, like in North Maluku where supporters of different candidates are throwing stones at each other."
Kalla ordered Home Minister Mardiyanto, who also attended the seminar, to come up with a more efficient election system.
"I hope all elections planned for a five-year term could be held together in just two years so we can optimize the use of logistics in order to cut costs," he said.
Kalla, who also chairs the Golkar Party, warned if democracy was too expensive, elected leaders would not be able to work effectively during their five-year terms.
"If democracy is expensive, the elected regents, for example, will look for ways to recoup their money in the first two years.
"And in their last two years in office, they will focus on collecting more cash for their upcoming contests. So they will work effectively for only one year.
"But I hope this will not happen," Kalla added.
Anton Prajasto, deputy executive director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, expressed concerns over Kalla's remarks, saying the Vice President's idea could end up curbing wider public participation in elections.
"The idea to make it more efficient is good but it could reduce the main purpose of the elections, which is to improve public participation," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He accused the government of being inconsistent in promoting efficiency in the elections.
"It is the government that makes the elections expensive. The election law allows the parties to receive money from the state budget based on the total number of votes they receive," Anton said.
Indonesia has been widely praised for its achievement in moving from a centralized to a decentralized political system.
Since 1998, Indonesia has overhauled every fundamental aspect of the former authoritarian state, including amending the Constitution, giving more power to the parliament and reforming the electoral system.
The country held its first-ever direct presidential election in 2004, in which former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Kalla were elected president and vice president, respectively.
It was followed by direct regional elections to elect governors, regent and mayors.
Indonesia will hold its second direct presidential election in 2009.
