PDI Perjuangan Politician Deems KPK's Proposal on Political Party Leaders Vulnerable to Politicisation
Politician from PDI Perjuangan, Guntur Romli, has responded to the proposal from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) regarding the limitation of terms for political party general chairmen.
According to Guntur Romli, the proposal exceeds the authority of the KPK or is ultra vires to the agency’s duties. “This means the KPK has stepped outside its core tasks and functions (tupoksi),” said Guntur Romli in a written statement to Tempo on Thursday, 23 April 2026.
Guntur stated that the KPK should focus on prosecuting and preventing corruption related to state officials and financial losses to the state in accordance with the KPK Law.
According to him, meddling in the internal affairs of political parties, which legally are civil society organisations, could be seen as going too far. He believes the KPK should focus on improving the weakening enforcement system or addressing the declining Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), rather than entering the internal realm of political organisations.
Guntur also opined that the proposal is juridically unconstitutional. Because political parties are legal entities with internal autonomy as voluntary organisations. He emphasised that the proposal contradicts the principle of freedom of association and assembly in the Constitution or Article 28E paragraph 3 of the 1945 Constitution.
The proposal also contradicts Article 2 paragraph 1, Article 5 paragraph 1, Article 15 paragraph 1 of Law No. 2 of 2011 on Political Parties, which grants party members the right to determine their leadership mechanisms through the party’s bylaws and articles of association.
“State intervention (through KPK recommendations) on the tenure of party leaders could be seen as harming the independence of parties and the freedom of association guaranteed by the constitution,” he said.
Furthermore, Guntur said there is no empirical study that absolutely proves that limiting the tenure of party general chairmen will automatically reduce corruption rates. He noted that corruption in Indonesia more often occurs due to high political costs, poor cadre development systems, and lack of transparency in campaign funding.
In addition, he assessed that this proposal is also vulnerable to politicisation; intervention in the duration of party leadership is highly susceptible to abuse as a political tool. “If this rule is implemented through state regulations, there is a concern that those in power could use this instrument to ‘topple’ political opponents with strong mass bases in their parties merely because of tenure issues, not because of performance or legal violations,” said Guntur.
Guntur urged the KPK to stay within its lane as a law enforcement institution focused on supervising fund flows and preventing abuse of authority by, for example, party cadres in government, rather than interfering in the sovereignty of political party organisations.
Previously, the findings of the KPK’s Monitoring Directorate study identified at least four issues in political party governance. The four points are the absence of a roadmap for political education implementation, integrated cadre development standards, financial reporting systems, and oversight bodies.
The anti-corruption agency then formulated several recommendations for improving political party governance. One of them is through revisions to Law No. 2 of 2011 on Political Parties, particularly Article 29 on political recruitment.
The study proposes a limit on the leadership periods of political party general chairmen. “To ensure the implementation of cadre development, regulations are needed to limit the general chairman’s leadership to a maximum of two terms of office,” states the KPK report on 20 April 2026.