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Taxpayer money not for electoral gain
Political parties and politicians want to win the hearts and minds of 70,000 village heads, whose influence can steer millions of rural voters toward certain candidates on Feb. 14 of next year.
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All politics is local: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center) attends the national gathering of the All-Indonesia Village Administration Association (Apdesi) at Senayan Sports Hall on March 29, 2022. (Courtesy of /Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau)
The election year is a time for those vying for power to offer pork barrel policies, which in the Indonesian context today can take shape in contributions to the Village Funds. The House of Representatives, under the full control of the ruling coalition, agreed to propose the increase through its initiative bill that will revise the 2014 Village Law.
In their draft revision, the lawmakers plan to allocate 20 percent of the regional transfer funds for village development, up from 8.3 percent. This increase will allow the government to double the amount given to each village per year, which is currently Rp 1 billion (US$66,780).
It is no coincidence that the plan to amend the Village Law comes as the country is gearing up for legislative and presidential elections in the next seven months. Clearly, the political parties and their politicians want to win the hearts and minds of 70,000 village heads, whose influence can steer millions of rural voters toward certain candidates on Feb. 14 of next year.
The amendment will be deliberated after the sitting session resumes on Aug. 15, with some politicians indicating the draft law will be a priority.
The House claimed to propose the revision in response to the aspirations of the village heads, who have held a series of rallies since last year demanding, among other things, the extension of their term limit from two to three. Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar has proposed a compromise, saying the government will allow the village heads to serve three times but reduce the term length from nine to six years.
In their January rally, the village heads grouped under the Association of Indonesian Village Governments (APDESI) also voiced their support for a third term for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, perhaps in hopes that the favor would be returned.
Jokowi, however, has said the government is not in any rush to discuss the revision of the Village Law. But learning from numerous past government policy turnarounds, there is still a chance for Jokowi to sign a letter of agreement to start the deliberation.
In fact, the government has proposed populist measures ahead of the elections, such as its plan to raise social assistance programs by almost 15 percent and fossil fuel subsidies by over 10 percent in 2024. Such “politicized” budget expenditure can also be seen in the government’s plan to increase the basic salary of civil servants, a move which many fear could affect their neutrality in the elections.
While the Village Funds aim to spur development and improve welfare in rural areas, the budget allocation is already prone to mismanagement and misappropriation, even without increasing the budget.
A 2015 study by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) into the use of village funds found a lack of transparency and accountability in the management of the money, poor monitoring and public participation and incompetent funds management amongst village officials.
The antigraft body recorded at least 601 corruption cases related to the use of Village Funds from 2015 to 2022. Most recently, a village head in Demak, Central Java was arrested accused of using Village Funds for running personal errands and gambling, just as lawmakers in Jakarta were completing the draft revision of the Village Law earlier this week.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) data also found alleged embezzlement of the Village Funds between 2015 and 2021 had caused Rp 433 trillion in state losses.
Bringing equitable development across the country is crucial for the welfare of people in rural and remote areas. But there should be a government intervention to ensure Village Funds do not go to waste, into the pockets of village officials or get used as an electoral tool.
It's never too early to warn policymakers against using taxpayer money for their political gain. To prevent disbursement of pork barrel policies, the Village Law revision should be postponed until after the elections.
