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State funding for political parties will bring more harm than good: Expert
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Against corruption – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif (third from right) and KPK deputy of graft prevention Pahala Nainggolan (third from left) speak at a press conference on political party funding at the anti-graft body's headquarters in Jakarta on Nov. 21. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) recommendation that the state should cover half of the annual expenses of political parties in Indonesia has drawn criticism from a political observer, who says that such a move will not address the core problem of the parties.
Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) analyst Lucius Karus said with widespread corruption currently implicating political parties and their non-transparent financial reports, the funding provided by the state is prone to misuse.
“The KPK recommendation will legitimize parties to manipulate their financial reports, providing greater opportunities for them to misuse the state budget,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Lucius further said the state’s funding assistance would not guarantee that the country’s political parties would adopt a clean and transparent recruitment process, which currently has become the core problem of the parties.
“Providing better supervision of their recruitment process is a better solution, instead of just providing them with money [...],” he said.
As reported earlier, the KPK recommended that the state cover half of annual expenditures of Indonesian political parties to avoid illicit practices during recruitment processes that had often resulted in the presence of low quality people as members of the party.
KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said that should the commission’s recommendation be approved, the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) would be involved in the audit process of financial reports of the political parties to ensure transparency. (fac/ebf)
