KPK Reveals Root Causes of Corruption Among Regional Heads
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed a number of factors causing regional heads to become entangled in corruption cases. Since the beginning of the year up to July, at least 10 regional heads have been caught in KPK sting operations (OTT).
KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo stated that this situation illustrates the complex problems and risks of corruption in regional governments, requiring more serious and comprehensive handling. He said corruption is not born from a single factor but is influenced by various aspects, both related to individual integrity and systemic weaknesses that open opportunities for irregularities.
“From the cases handled by the KPK, one factor that frequently emerges is the high political cost in general elections and regional head elections,” Budi said in a written statement on Saturday (18/7). In several cases, the KPK found a link between political funding support and efforts to obtain benefits after a candidate is elected.
Budi highlighted the case of the regent of Ponorogo, East Java, where there were allegations that parties who provided political funding subsequently gained access to arrange projects and profit from the implementation of government projects. A similar pattern was also seen in the case in Langkat, North Sumatra, where a private party who was part of the regional head’s campaign team allegedly obtained various work packages after the candidate they supported was elected.
Budi said these findings align with the results of a corruption prevention study on election implementation conducted by the KPK’s Monitoring Directorate. The study shows that expensive campaign and political costs are fundamental issues requiring serious attention. According to Budi, this condition is a risk factor that can encourage corrupt practices, both before and after a person is elected as a public official.
The high cost of campaigning creates economic-political pressure for election participants. When candidates must spend large sums to gain political support, run campaigns, and secure voters, there is a tendency to seek non-transparent funding sources that risk originating from corrupt practices. “KPK findings show that the high cost of winning elections encourages candidates to commit corrupt acts both before and after taking office,” Budi said.
He added that the study also revealed that the current campaign system opens up space for wasteful political spending, where campaign implementation still relies on installing large numbers of props, public rallies, mass mobilisation, and various forms of high-cost campaigning that make political competition increasingly expensive. As a result, contests are often determined more by financial capacity than by the quality of ideas, track records, or the integrity of candidates. The KPK views that this condition ultimately complicates efforts to present leaders with integrity and increases the risk of transactional politics.
The KPK study also highlighted the use of large amounts of cash, which is vulnerable to being used for money politics practices. Budi said the use of cash, which is difficult to trace, opens the door for proceeds of crime to enter the political process, whether for buying political support, voter mobilisation, or other campaign activities. This situation not only damages electoral integrity but also becomes a gateway to wider corruption.
From a corruption prevention perspective, the KPK sees that high political investment during the campaign period has the potential to create an urge to recoup costs after a candidate assumes public office. This risk can manifest in the form of abuse of authority, project manipulation, trading of positions, and other corrupt practices that ultimately harm the public interest.
To address this, Budi emphasised that the KPK continues to push for improvements to the political financing system to reduce high campaign costs that could potentially trigger corrupt practices. One proposed measure is to increase the state’s role in campaign financing, particularly through the provision of campaign props for election participants. From the KPK’s perspective, Budi continued, such support can help reduce the cost burden that candidates must bear.
“Besides creating fairer competition, this policy is also expected to reduce election participants’ dependence on funding sources that risk causing conflicts of interest,” he said. The KPK is also encouraging a transformation of campaign models to become simpler and more efficient. The anti-graft body believes that the model of mass rallies, which requires large costs, needs to be reviewed and replaced with more effective methods, such as the use of digital media and social media. In this way, political competition is expected to no longer be dominated by financial power, but by the quality of ideas, work programmes, and the integrity of the candidates.
Furthermore, the KPK stressed the importance of strengthening transparency in political funding. To curb money politics practices, the KPK supports the passage of the Bill on the Limitation of Cash Transactions and increased supervision of political fund flows. “The KPK encourages various improvement measures, such as reducing campaign costs, strengthening transparency of political funding sources, limiting cash transactions, and promoting simpler, idea-focused campaign models,” Budi stated.