Vitorio Mantalean, Jakarta – The Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) is being urged to ensure that the General Elections Commission (KPU) reinstate the requirement for candidates to submit Campaign Fund Donation Reports (LPSDK) for the 2024 elections.
The call was made by a coalition of civil society groups calling themselves the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society for Electoral Integrity, which claims it is made up 146 non-profit institutions, including the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and Transparency International Indonesia (TII).
"Bawaslu must immediately issue a recommendation for the KPU to immediately restore the obligation for election participants to put together and submit a 2024 election LPSDK", Coalition representative Valentina Sagala told journalists on Monday June 19.
Sagala said that issuing such a recommendation would represent one of the duties that Bawaslu is authorised to carry out, namely ensuring the realisation of elections that have legal certainty and integrity.
The Coalition is also urging Bawaslu, the KPU and the Election Organisers Ethics Council (DKPP) to hold a tri-partite meeting to ensure that the KPU regulates the obligation for election participants to submit a LPSDK, along supervision by Bawaslu.
"In the case that these election organising institution [the KPU and Bawaslu] does not follow up on the above demands, we will submit a report or complaint with the DKPP", said Sagala.
As reported earlier, the KPU's plan to remove the LPSDK obligation was revealed by KPU Election Organisation Technical Division Coordinator Idham Holik during a public hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission II in late May.
At the time, Holik argued that the LPSDK obligation could be removed because it is not explicitly cited in the election law. The KPU also justified this on the grounds that the 2024 election campaign period was very short, only 75 days.
The stipulation on submitting a LPSDK is actually a legacy of the 2014 elections.
University of Indonesia (UI) election law lecturer Titi Anggraini says that the removal of the obligation is problematic because not all of the candidates contesting the election have enough money to fund their campaigns.
Given the high cost of political campaigning in Indonesia, the involvement of contributions from third parties is often cited as one of the reasons for corruption that occurs later when the candidates are elected.
"It is very possible that there are [election] participants that have many campaign activities but it's unclear where their income comes from, bearing in mind that their wealth is not very great", Anggraini told Kompas.com on May 31.
"The LPSDK is a good practice that should be a commitment by all parties to realise elections that are clean and anti-corruption", she reiterated.
The aspect of transparency is seen as crucial because prospective legislative members are also not obliged to report their wealth before nominating themselves.
"The duration of the campaign is indeed short, only 75 days, but precisely because it's short, it's very possible that election participants will compete with one another to spend on campaigns to penetrate voters so the short time can be optimised to influence voters. It is there that the LPSDK is crucial and strategic", said Anggraini.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Sipil Dorong Bawaslu Jamin KPU Tak Hapus Laporan Sumbangan Kampanye".]
