Allow money politics

Allow money politics

From Bisnis Indonesia

On July 5, eligible Indonesians exercised their right to vote
for their next president and vice president. If you asked who was
the winner of the presidential election, the answer would be the
media. During the election campaign, the campaign teams of the
five presidential candidates spent huge amounts of money on
political ads in the mass media.

Now that we have adopted a system of direct presidential
elections, I suggest that money politics be allowed during the
campaign period. Presidential candidates should be allowed to
distribute cash or consumer goods to prospective voters.

It must be remembered that Indonesians are no longer ignorant
or naive. Only a small percentage of people will vote for a
presidential candidate simply because they received something
from that candidate.

AHMAD RIZALI

Jakarta