Many ways of raising funds for regional direct election

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Achmad Yulizar, 50, is rather chipper looking for a man who failed to secure the nomination of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) for Bandarlampung mayor.

After all, the current deputy mayor of Bandarlampung still has the chance to be nominated by two other parties he is affiliated with -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the Democratic Party. And even if he does not secure a nomination for the June election, he can always return to his other life as an extremely successful and rich businessman.

Yulizar's many properties include a hotel, plots of land, a maternity hospital and shop-houses. If ever he needs a bit of ready cash for a political campaign, he simply uses one of his properties as collateral to get a loan from his relatives.

Thanks to loans from his relatives, the deputy mayor is not too concerned about raising more money to support his candidacy.

"I don't exert myself. I'm being realistic. If I'm not elected mayor, I'll return to my life as a businessman," he told The Jakarta Post recently at his newly built hotel.

The 50-room hotel on Jl. Cut Nyak Dien, in the heart of Bandarlampung, is one of the assets Yulizar has put up as collateral. Every evening, he meets with supporters in the lobby of the hotel after completing his daily duties as Bandarlampung's deputy mayor.

A political observer in Lampung, Mahendra Utama, said there were many ways for politicians to acquire campaign funds, including borrowing money from family and friends. Loans from family, said Mahendra, carried with them fewer risks than bank loans.

"Bank loans have high interest rates. And only trust and a guarantee of winning the election are needed to get a loan from wealthy friends," said Mahendra.

A building contractor in East Lampung, Abah Entis, known to some as the "walking bank", often provides loans to regional political candidates.

People close to Abah say a number of administrative chiefs currently in office in Lampung have borrowed money from Abah.

Abah conceded that a number of candidates had visited him in the past few months, but declined to say the purpose of these visits.

"They're just friendly visits. We've known each other for a long time," said the contractor from Banten, who earned the nickname the "King of Contractors" by having a hand in nearly every major project in East Lampung.

In return for providing interest-free loans to candidates, all Abah asks is that they throw construction projects his way after they are in office.

However, Mahendra warned the candidates that pouring money into their campaigns did not guarantee victory.

There are 522,885 eligible voters in Bandarlampung, and Mahendra said these voters differed in character from voters in other provinces.

Voters in Bandarlampung, said Mahendra, could be more "cunning" than the candidates.

"Candidates know that voters may not vote for them even if they are paid to. Learning from past elections, candidates will not waste money by handing it out to political brokers and voters," said Mahendra.

The cost of even being nominated in Bandarlampung is very high. Mahendra estimates a candidate must spend at least Rp 4 billion to "register", for lobbying, campaigning and buying flyers and posters.