By Darto Wiryosukarto
Jakarta – Today, Wednesday, December 9, 2020, Indonesia will hold direct regional head elections (pilkada) in 270 regions. The details, 9 provinces, 224 districts and 37 cities. This is the fourth direct regional election held in Indonesia since it was first held in 2005.
There are good and bad side to the elections held directly in Indonesia. The good thing is, the community is directly involved in the selection of candidate leaders. One man one vote. In fact, the Pilkada law allows individual candidates to run as regional head candidates, without going through a political party.
The bad thing is that the direct regional elections have a correlation with the increasing number of corruption cases involving regional heads, both governors, regents and mayors. In the records of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Indonesia, since the direct elections were held in 2005, as many as 300 regional heads have been caught in corruption cases. In details, 124 cases were handled by the KPK, and 176 cases were handled by the Attorney General’s Office.
Why is the direct election closely related to the increase in corruption cases involving local government officials?
In the view of some analysts in Indonesia, this is closely related to the high political costs of becoming candidates for the regions. At least, there are four cost items that must be issued by a prospective candidate to advance as a candidate to the regions, both at the provincial, district and city levels.
One, the cost of buying candidate tickets from political parties. Political fees, which are commonly referred to as “dowries”, must be paid by candidates because political parties do charge, even though they are not open. The amount of the dowry depends on each political party and the electoral district. The more constituents of a political party, the more expensive the ticket for nomination. The greater the Regional Revenue and Expenditure (PAD) that will hold the pilkada, the higher the price.
The Asian Post’s research found a case, in order to advance to the nomination of regional heads in Banten, a medium-sized political party asked for a dowry of IDR 5 billion. That’s just one political party. It takes 2-5 political parties to get one ticket for candidacy.
Two, the winning fee. This winning fund includes campaign costs for purchasing attributes (t-shirts, flags, stickers, banners, billboards), operational costs for the success team, costs for field campaigns, costs for promotion in the media, and costs for witnesses during the election. Almost all the candidates bear. The funds in this post are clearly greater than the dowry.
Three, consultant fees. This fee is used for consultations, research, and surveys to determine the level of electability and the formation of public opinion by releasing survey results that benefit candidates.
Fourth, the cost of money politics. This is no secret. The Asian Post’s research found that money politics significantly influences election choices. Some people suspect that the election organizer, namely the Regional General Election Commission (KPUD), has sometimes been involved in this money politics game.
These four political costs are enormous when compared to the salaries they will receive after becoming regional heads. A non-governmental organization called FITRA mentions the figure of IDR 5-28 billion for the regional election budget at the district / city level, and for the provincial level in the range of IDR 60-78 billion
The Asian Post’s research casts doubt on that figure. In practice in the field, the number could be more, even 5 times. Never mind the position of governor or regent / mayor, for the position of commissioner in middle-level state-owned enterprises, some have the courage to spend IDR 30 billion.
Such a large value is certainly not comparable to the salaries and benefits they received during their tenure as regional heads. The basic salary and allowances for the governor are only IDR 8.40 million plus other allowances adjusted to PAD. Meanwhile, the regent / mayor’s salary is only Rp. 5.88 million plus other allowances.
So, if they win and become regional heads, after incurring very high costs, there is no other way for them but to do corruption. The position it bears makes it possible to do that.
*) The author is a journalist for The Asian Post
Corrupt’s culture was habbit in Indonesia.