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ormer deputy Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Bambang Widjojanto said on Thursday that political parties were failing to work for prosperity and social justice in Indonesia and instead encouraged corruption.

'€œThe problems are rooted in the internal make-up of political parties, including their recruitment mechanisms,'€ Bambang said during a seminar on initiating political civility.

He added that it was problematic for parties not to have in place rigorous recruitment processes, as party figures were supposed to represent the public.

Syafi'€™i Maarif, a prominent intellectual, said that the parties should do more to educate their members.

'€œIn general, today'€™s politicians don'€™t care about the public. They see politics as a lucrative career. This is a catastrophic state of affairs,'€ said Syafi'€™i.

About 58 percent of the current batch of House of Representative lawmakers are new faces, including celebrities, and their ability to legislate and represent the public has been called into question.

Singer Anang Hermansyah, soap opera actor Lucky Hakim and actress Desy Ratnasari began their first terms as legislators from the National Mandate Party (PAN) in 2014.

Former TV presenter Junico Siahaan of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and actor and dangdut singer Krisna Mukti of the National Awakening Party (PKB) also made the transition from showbusiness to politics that year.

'€œIf they'€™ve got the cash, anyone can get into the legislature, regardless of their capacity to serve the public interest,'€ Bambang noted.

Party financing, he added, was not transparent, meaning the public could not be sure they were electing figures capable of managing the nation'€™s finances.

General Elections Commission Regulation No. 17 of 2013, first applied in the elections of 2014, states all participants in an elections must declare their campaign finances.

However, according to the Information Commission, the regulation does not prevent candidates soliciting sponsorship and donations to pay for their hugely costly campaigns.

'€œThe government should fund political parties to prevent them from resorting to business interests to generate income,'€ Bambang said.

He added that certain members of Commission III overseeing law, human rights and security were lawyers, but continued to practice when they should be concentrating on improving national law. Some members of Commission VIII overseeing religion and social affairs, meanwhile, run travel agencies organizing pilgrimage tours, he said.

Given this state of affairs, he said, conflict of interest was inevitable.

Members of the legislature should in theory jettison all outside interests, he went on, yet there remained many who continued to promote policies purely out of self-interest.

Separately, Syafi'€™i said that political parties were a pillar of democracy, and should work for the nation, not themselves.

Bambang said that to eradicate corruption, politicans should recuse themselves from any dealings with projects using state funds.

'€œAnyone found guilty of corruption should be stripped of his or her political rights. The cost of the crime should be greater than the benefit gained.'€ (wnd)