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n an effort to prevent corrupt practices among politicians, the government is mulling a plan to increase the annual funding for political parties to Rp 1 trillion (US$76.75 million).

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said that the funding should be given to each political party to help repair the image of politicians and their political parties that had been tainted by graft cases in the past decade.

Politicians, especially those sitting in public office and representative bodies, have complained about the high costs of politics.

Last year, lawmakers at the House of Representatives temporarily revoked the direct-election mechanism for regional heads, arguing that the process was too costly for candidates and political parties.

Having returned to the direct-election system, local elections will be held simultaneously starting this December in another move toward efficiency.

Tjahjo admitted that the plan to increase state funding might sound '€œinappropriate'€ now, but ensured that it would be a '€œfeasible option'€ in the future to force transparency as well as accountability among political parties.

'€œPolitical parties are the pillars of democracy. Thus it'€™s important for the government to support them,'€ the politician from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.

Tjahjo added that the increased state funding should be effective after the 2019 general election.

The proposal quickly gained support from politicians, particularly House members, who referred to Tjahjo'€™s proposal as '€œnot new'€, as lawmakers had previously rallied support to revise the existing law on political parties to allow bigger state allocations to finance political parties.

Article 34 of Law No. 2/2011 on political parties stipulates that state funds are one of three legitimate financial resources for political parties.

The article also mandates that state funding is given to each political party based on the number of votes it secures in a legislative election.

Besides the state funds, the financial sources also include members'€™ dues and legal donations from private agencies.

After the 2009 general election, the Home Ministry issued a decree granting each party Rp 108 per valid vote per year in state funding.

Under the scheme, a total of nine parties received around Rp 9.1 billion in state funding in 2010, with the Democratic Party, the winner of the 2009 general election, receiving the largest amount at Rp 2.3 billion, while the Hanura Party received the least at Rp 423 million.

The amounts have steadily increased ever since.

'€œI suggest the House produces a new law to comprehensively regulate the matter. It must include how much money one source can donate as well as who will be responsible for auditing the flow of money. Everything must be clear,'€ said House deputy speaker Fachri Hamzah.

However, activists disagree.

Uchok Sky Khadafi from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) referred to the plan as '€œan opportunity for further corruption'€ as there was a lack of close and reliable monitoring after the recent weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

'€œI would strongly support the plan if the KPK was as strong and fierce as it once was. But now, I am not sure,'€ Uchok said.

Veri Junaidi, a researcher at election watchdog the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), said he agreed with the plan, but only if political parties provided a transparent and accountable periodic report of their bookkeeping and prioritized such funding for political education.

'€œIf not, the funding should be stopped,'€ he said, adding that the government must also develop a good and transparent monitoring mechanism to prevent misuse.

The reports must also be audited by a public accounting firm.

'€œA party is actually owned by the public and serves the public by preparing national and regional leaders,'€ he added. '€œSuch funding from the state could also prevent illegal funding.'€