[Editor's Note]

Political parties play a crucial role in a democratic country like Indonesia. To fulfill its responsibilities, parties need sufficient financial resources to select public officials, to adequately place representatives in institutions, and operate appropriate funding programs. The government provides financial assistance to encourage the institutionalization of party activities, but the amount of assistance only partially covers the expenses. However, as democracy leaves the parties with high maintenance costs, they are driven out to seek political funds by taking advantageous positions in the government and seeking inadequate sponsors. Parties’ endeavor to collect money from many available resources is not a problem itself, however, the author Dr. Sri Nuryanti from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, notes that such practices could pave the way for corruption and abuse which could harm the accountability and integrity of the parties. Dr. Sri advises parties and the government to create concrete guidelines and legal repercussions regarding financial subsidies.

※ The following are excerpts from the article. For the full text, please check the attached file at the top of this page.

The existence of political parties in a democratic country like Indonesia is playing an important role. The political parties that existed in Indonesia usually compete for the election that is held every five years. Political parties become eligible to compete in the election only after completing many procedural activities such as the submission of the organization and structure of the political party to the General Election Commission, followed by a verification process by the General Election Commission. After the approval of the General Election Commission, the political party is then eligible to take part in the election. For the election that was held in 2019, Election law 2019 regulated that each political party had to deliver their campaign finance report to the General Election Commission according to the schedule provided by the General Election Commission. This was not merely aimed to figure out the political party campaign finance but the greater purpose was to exercise the accountability of political parties towards managing their finances. As a public entity, the political party, therefore, is subjected to financial disclosure.

In Indonesia, there are legal provisions regarding political party finance aimed at achieving better accountability for political parties as well as preventing political corruption. Based on Article 34 of Law Number 2 of 2008 and Law Number 2 of 2011, there are 3 (three) types of financial sources for political parties, namely membership fees, legal contributions, and financial assistance from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget and Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget

From the legal provisions above, political party finance is not only composed of their internal resources but the political parties that are able to pass the parliamentary threshold, receive financial assistance from the government through the disbursement of political financial assistant schemes regulated by political party law no. 2/2011. The political party finance assistance scheme is implemented through the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Negara/APBN). These funds are not only used to prepare for the election, but also to turn the wheels of party organization, both for the operation of office activities and for other political party activities such as supporting cadre education, training, and enhancing human resource capabilities within political parties. Usually, each political party hosts general meetings, consolidation and coordination meetings, as well as training for their politicians.

■ Ridho Imawan Hanafi is a researcher at the Center for Political Studies - Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). His research focus is on democracy, political parties, elections, as well as politics and governance in Indonesia. He received a Bachelor of Social Science from the Journalism Department of the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Dr. Soetomo University, Surabaya (2005), and received his Masters in Political Science from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia (2013). He writes articles as part of book’s chapter, journals, and also published his analysis for Indonesian media such as Kompas and Koran Tempo. He is currently as coordinator of the political party research team at the Center (2020-2021).

■ Sri Nuryanti is a researcher at the Center for Political Studies, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, Indonesia. She is the former Election Commissioner of the Indonesian General Election Commission 2007–12, where she successfully oversaw the Parliamentary election and Presidential election 2009, as well as local elections from 2007 to 2012. She is an active participant in various academic activities at the national as well as the international level. She is a Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association and the Executive Council member of the International Peace Research Association. She is the director in charge of the Electoral Research Institute, Jakarta, Indonesia.

• Typeset by Juhyun Jun, Research Associate
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