Observers hail bill on donations to political parties

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A significant increase in the level of donations allowed for political parties has won the support of political observers and a politician, who see the increase as a positive measure to help prevent parties obtaining money from illegal sources.

The increase, proposed in the political bill, however, should be enforced with stricter regulations, compelling political parties to provide regular audits, they said.

"It's better to expand the limit of the donation, otherwise political parties will continue taking money from illegal sources," Director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) Smita Notosusanto told The Jakarta Post here on Sunday.

Law enforcement was needed because Cetro had noticed that none of the 48 parties contesting the 1999 election had disclosed the mandatory annual report and audit result, she said.

She added that the failure of political parties to submit an audit report was apparently due to violations against the limit of personal and institutional donations.

Deputy chairman of Golkar, the second largest political party, Fahmi Idris agreed with the expanded limit, saying the requirements of Law No. 2/1999 on political parties was unrealistic.

"It's better to make regulations than limitations. It can also curb violations to the law," he said, without elaborating.

The 1999 law stipulates that each party may not receive personal donations exceeding Rp 15 million (US$1,666) per year, while donations from an institution or enterprise must not exceed Rp 150 million.

In the revised law drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the amount of personal and institutional donations has risen to Rp 100 million and Rp 500 million, respectively.

Each individual that donates more than Rp 100 million faces a maximum fine of Rp 250 million or 90 days in detention.

Fahmi said that each political party relies on donations to run various party programs, because revenue generated by membership fees alone was not enough.

Fahmi acknowledged that all parties would need huge amounts of cash to fund various agendas, including regional visits, congresses and administration.

"It is now more realistic," Fahmi told the Post, adding that the old regulation had halted Golkar from collecting more cash from its supporters in 1999.

Law No. 2/1999 stipulates that each party is required to provide the Supreme Court with a list of donors and donations, and a financial audit report 15 days before and 30 days after the election and for each year after that.

Cetro advocacy director Hadar N. Gumay revealed that of the 48 political parties, only seven had provided their annual report in 1999 and only one had presented the report in 2000. No parties submitted reports in 2001.

The seven parties that had complied with the law in 1999 were the Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Indonesian Peoples Party (PARI), the Justice Party (PK), the People's Democratic Party (PDR), the Peace Loving Party (PCD), and the Justice and Unity Party (PKP).

According to the law, the Supreme Court can impose penalties in the form of cutting government funding to a political party which violates the ruling on mandatory financial reporting. It can also ban an offending party from contesting the next election if they are found guilty of breaking the maximum limit of personal and institutional donations.

So far, no action has been taken by the Supreme Court.