Greed may be the most obvious biggest reason why so many Indonesian politicians are corrupt, but many also believe that corruption is entrenched in Indonesian politics because of the huge cost of running public office.
That is the notion that led to Indonesia’s finance minister, Sri Mulyani, announcing yesterday that the government had issued a ministerial decree raising the budget allocation for political parties almost tenfold, based on recommendations from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“The KPK recommended it, so that political parties can operate without committing graft. Many say that they became corrupt for their parties, because political costs (are so high),” Sri Mulyani said yesterday, as quoted by Detik.
Under the decree, the political party fund, which is issued annually, has been raised to Rp 1,000 per valid vote from Rp 108.
In the 2014 legislative election, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) were the overall winners with 23.68 million (18.95%) of the total national vote. Under the new budget allocation, they now stand to earn Rp 23.68 billion annually from the government.
However, Sri Mulyani warned political parties not to misuse the fund for personal gains and direct them towards the betterment of the public.
PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto welcomed the fund increase, and pledged that his party would be transparent in their use of the fund.
Do you think we can trust our politicians not to misuse the fund, and would it actually decrease corruption in Indonesia as theorized? Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.
