Parties’ Anticorruption Commitment

In Indonesia’s political system, political parties hold a central role. One must go through the political parties to become a member of a legislative body, excepting the Regional Representatives Council.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo (right), accompanied by KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah, speaks at a press conference at the KPK building in Jakarta on Tuesday. The KPK named 38 councillors and former councillors at the North Sumatra Legislative Council in the 2009 to 2014 and 2014 to 2019 periods as suspects in a graft case involving North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho.

In Indonesia’s political system, political parties hold a central role. There is no path to power except through the political parties.

One must go through the political parties to become a member of a legislative body, excepting the Regional Representatives Council (DPD). One must engage with the political parties if one plans on becoming a regional head, a state commissioner, a Supreme Court justice or a Constitutional Court justice. Political parties have their fingers deep in the people’s representative body, the House of Representatives, which invariably relies on fit and proper tests as a screening instrument. Political parties are even involved in approving ambassadorial candidates.

The executive cannot work independently to carry out development programs, as the budget is overseen by the House in the case of the state budget, or by Regional Legislative Councils in the case of the regional budget. The parties hold a central and strategic position in Indonesia’s political system. Therefore, recruiting party cadres is a critical process. It is the parties’ duty to instill the value of integrity in recruiting and nurturing their cadres. The parties must establish a system to prevent corruption among its politicians.

The corruption case involving a group of North Sumatra legislative council members points to the fragility of politicians’ integrity. As this daily reported, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named 38 North Sumatra lawmakers who had served in either 2009-2014 or 2014-2019 as suspects in the case. Earlier, the KPK had named 18 lawmakers of the Malang City Council as suspects. Since the commission’s establishment, the KPK has named 122 regional legislative councilors as corruption suspects. Their alleged crimes are similar, and involve corruption in the deliberations of the regional budget. The people certainly do not want their council representatives be suspected of corruption.

The increasing number of politicians that have been linked to corruption is clearly worrying. If the condition is neglected, it could cause the public to lose their trust in the political parties. In turn, this could lead to public distrust in democracy. This spate of corruption cases involving the people’s representatives seems to confirm Harold Laswell’s view that politics was all about who gets what, when, where and how.

The parties’ commitment is being tested. On the other hand, we understand that the costly political system has led many politicians to seek “alternative” funding sources. If it is true that collusion with executive members of government is the leading cause of corruption, it is the political parties’ and the government’s duty to correct this. The regulations on political costs must be amended.

Despite the widespread controversy, we urge the General Elections Commission (KPU) to be firm and bold in issuing its ruling to ban corruption convicts from running in the elections. While there remains the possibility that political parties might attack the KPU ruling or hit it with a petition for judicial review, it is here that we will see just how committed the parties are to eradicating corruption.

The KPU’s move to ban corruption convicts from the elections is part of the efforts to realize our pledge that the people’s representatives are devoid of corruptors.