TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A researcher at The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Syamsudin Haris, said that the campaign funds at the regional elections is tend to be used to buy votes or money politics.
“All of this time, the candidates tend to spend a huge amount of money to buy the votes. That is not a political campaign,” Harris said on Tuesday, September 26, 2016.
Haris explained that to buy votes, the candidates can either give people a cash, staple foods, or housing materials as the compensations, so voters would choose them. According to him, such pattern does not have any limitation in spending the fund. “The more the voters, the more money you would have to pay out,” he said.
Campaign funds should be used for the essential parts in the campaign itself, he said. For example, to cover travel costs, renting a stage, make banners, pamphlets, and other things. Other than that, regulations about campaign funds should be tightened. But unfortunately, Haris said, the regulations concerning money politics have been weakened.
Haris said that Article 73 paragraph 1 Constituent No 10/2016 on Regional Elections mentions that the transport and lunch expenses, as well as the campaign tools procurement are not money politic. "That's ridiculous. It (the regulation) must be tightened," he said.
He also recommends to improve the sanction for the graft receiver and those who do the money politics practice. And the candidate to-be should follow the rules and be a good influence, Haris added.
FRISKI RIANA
