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or Taufiq Amrullah and Bintang Prabowo, who don't have a lot of money, finding a way into the House of Representatives is a daunting ' but not impossible ' task.

Both agreed that becoming a House member and creating pro-people regulations was the only way they could accomplish social change, which is why they are trying to find an alternative to money politics to help them accomplish their aspirations.

'My parents are not public officials. They don't have a lot of money. That is why I struggle to enter the political world. Usually, one needs to be economically established in order to enter into politics,' Taufiq, a 32-year-old legislative candidate with the National Mandate Party (PAN), said.

However, Taufiq said he was not giving up and shifted his focus instead to organizational networking.

'I cooperate with consultants, NGOs and corporations to maximize the impact of my campaign,' Taufiq said.

'For instance, Progress Indonesia, an NGO, of which I am one of the founders, cooperated with numerous companies to provide people with entrepreneurship training. Participants who became successful are now helping me in my bid to become a legislator,' Taufiq said.

Bintang Prabowo, a 28-year-old legislative candidate from the Democratic Party, followed a similar strategy.

'As the secretary-general of the National Committee of Indonesian Youths, I was able to connect with a lot of people from all walks of life. These people helped me to make acquaintances with prominent local figures. These figures will influence people to vote for me,' Bintang said.

Taufiq said that he was able to make his political activities less expensive by relying on social capital.

'They've helped me to save a substantial amount of money. For example, the participants of my entrepreneurship training have lent me their cars and their homes; to use as a post for my supporters,' Taufiq said.

'I also helped a few friends who own political communication consultant offices. In turn, they gave me consultation for free while other politicians might have to pay as much as Rp 25 million (US$ 2,564.63) for that service,' Taufiq said.

'This month, I have only spent Rp. 1.5 million for my political venture,' Taufiq said.

Bintang said that he had not spent any money on his political aspirations yet.

'I have received a great deal of support from the network I nurtured since I started my career in youth mass organizations,' Bintang said.

Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party once said that a legislative candidate must have at least Rp 1 billion to win a seat at the House.

Another senior politician, Trimedya Panjaitan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), claimed to have prepared Rp 1.5 billion for the upcoming election, down from Rp 2 billion in the 2009 election. 'In 2009, I placed ads in local mass media,' he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Ade Irawan from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said this reliance on constituents would keep legislative candidates away from corruption once in office.

'Politicians who use money politics to buy votes will feel they can do anything they wish because they 'bought' their constituents. Politicians who actually receive financial support from their constituents to become legislators will feel a greater sense of obligation toward the people. They would probably think twice or thrice before getting involved in graft,' Ade said.

'Political parties should encourage this campaign method.' Sebastian Salang from Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) said he supported the young legislators' emphasis on social capital for political campaigns.

'Politicians who do that will truly dedicate themselves to pro-people policies once they get into the House. By staying abreast of the life conditions of their constituents, they have come to understand the struggles faced by people at the grass roots level,' Sebastian said. (ogi)