Former KPU Chair Proposes Special Agency to Oversee Campaign Funds in Election Bill
The former Chairman of the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU), Ramlan Surbakti, has proposed the formation of a specialised agency focused on supervising and enforcing election campaign fund regulations. He assessed that the burden of monitoring campaign finances is far too heavy if handled solely by the KPU.
“There must be an agency specifically dedicated to handling this,” Ramlan stated during a hearing with Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR) in the parliamentary complex, Senerm, Jakarta, on Tuesday (2/6/2026).
Ramlan highlighted existing loopholes in campaign fund oversight, particularly regarding fundraising practices by informal teams operating outside official campaign structures. According to him, funds gathered by these informal teams are often unreported and can even exceed the amount of official funds.
“There are several points I wish to convey here. First, the informal mechanism of fundraising—so-called informal teams, which usually appear during presidential or regional elections—must be regulated,” Ramlan explained.
“Because often, the funds collected by informal teams are actually larger than the funds reported to the KPU or public accounting firms,” he added.
Consequently, he believes the revision of the Election Law is necessary to mandate the reporting of all campaign fundraising activities, regardless of whether they are conducted officially or unofficially.
“Therefore, all activities, whether formal or informal, official or unofficial, in this fundraising process, must be reported,” he emphasised.
Ramlan cited examples of campaign fund oversight in various democracies, mentioning the United States, which has a specialised agency focused on enforcing campaign finance rules, and the United Kingdom, which assigns such duties to its electoral commission.
“There are two models. The first is the American model. At the federal level in the US, there is no central election organising body, but they have formed the American Election Commission, whose primary task is to enforce election campaign finance provisions,” he noted.
He considered this model to be quite effective, referencing a case involving an Indonesian businessman who was caught in a campaign funding violation in the United States.
“An Indonesian businessman who contributed to Bill Clinton’s campaign was discovered and subsequently fined,” Ramlan said.
Ramlan expressed disagreement with assigning the enforcement of campaign finance rules directly to the KPU, arguing that the KPU’s primary duties could be compromised by such a heavy responsibility.
“I do not believe it is appropriate to task the KPU with enforcing campaign finance provisions. The task of enforcing these regulations is, in my view, quite heavy. If this task is given to the KPU, their primary duties might be hindered,” he added.
Ramlan subsequently proposed that the KPU be granted the authority to form this agency, provided that its operations and decision-making remain independent.
“For instance, the KPU could be tasked with forming this agency, but functionally, this agency must remain independent, even if the KPU is the one that establishes it,” Ramlam concluded.