KPK Reveals 10 Issues in Political Party Governance and Elections

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed 10 findings related to improvements in the political party governance system that need to be addressed urgently. The KPK assesses that the main issues warranting attention are problems in internal party governance. “Where the KPK highlights the absence of an integrated roadmap for political education between the government and political parties,” stated KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo in his remarks on Saturday (25/4/2026). The KPK found weak integration between the recruitment process and the party cadre system. The KPK discovered that political parties do not yet have a standardised financial reporting system for parties. This makes party finances non-transparent and weakens accountability for fund usage. In addition, some political parties do not have a special supervisory body in the cadre process, political education, and party financial management, which increases the risk of deviations. “Not to mention the findings regarding the high costs of winning that election participants must bear, both in general elections and regional head elections,” said Budi. High political costs give rise to transactional practices in the candidate nomination process for legislative members or regional heads, while also leading to the emergence of political ‘dowries’ and the potential misuse of resources after candidates are elected. The KPK also found loopholes in the recruitment and selection process for election and regional head election organisers that are not yet optimal. These loopholes have the potential to produce unintegrity organisers. “Law enforcement for election and regional head election violations is also deemed not to be running optimally,” Budi continued. Furthermore, the KPK highlighted the still very dominant use of cash in election contests due to the absence of regulations limiting cash transactions. These findings have been reported by the KPK to President Prabowo Subianto and the DPR RI for further attention. The study was conducted by the Monitoring Directorate of the Prevention and Monitoring Deputy of the KPK in 2025, involving four groups of informants: representatives of parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties; election and regional head election organisers; electoral experts or observers; and academics.