Editorial: Where Are Campaign Funds Coming From?
Past experience shows us that Indonesian democracy has been repeatedly compromised by corruption and other illegal acts.
There is a perception that elections are getting expensive, and that you can't poll well without huge financial backing.
Political parties and their politicians are trying to obtain cash from whatever sources possible. Many politicians have confessed to stealing money for their parties in financing efforts to perform well in elections.
While some of the money will definitely end up in the pockets of politicians, the political parties still count on their officials to find funding.
The way in which the disgraced former treasurer of the ruling Democratic Party, Muhammad Nazaruddin, sought to acquire funds is a blatant example of high-level corruption. But Nazaruddin is only one example, and there are many more like him.
While trillions of rupiah have been collected by political parties, only a fractions of this will be reported in their official accounts — as required by law. It is clear that what the parties have spent on campaigning, especially TV ads, is far above the funding reported in their official accounts.
Unfortunately, while the discrepancy between reported funding and spending is blatantly clear, few have questioned how the parties fill this financial gap.
We have valid reasons to be concerned that elections have been financed by money obtained from crime. Elections may even have been used to launder money from corruption or drugs trafficking. We should be worried that parties and politicians may have colluded with criminal organizations, and are held hostage by these groups.
There is no such thing as a free lunch and these lenders will ask for high returns.
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