PKS candidates sign political contracts

PKS candidates sign political contracts

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Dozens of legislative candidates from the Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) in Yogyakarta and Semarang signed on Saturday
"political contracts" with the public ahead of the April
elections.

The candidates signed contracts promising not to accept bribes
or become involved in corruption if elected.

In Yogyakarta, more than 50 candidates signed the political
contract in front of a notary public.

The chairman of the party's Yogyakarta provincial executive
board, Agus Purnomo, said the idea of signing a political
contract came about in response to a loss of public trust in
legislators.

Such a political contract with the public is not the first in
the country.

A member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) in the
Southeast Sulawesi capital of Kendari recently signed a political
contract with his constituents, pledging to fight for their
interests and to battle corruption.

According to the organizers of the political contracts in
Yogyakarta and Semarang, such contracts are useful because they
are binding. If the candidates fail to honor the items of the
contract after they are elected, the contract will make it easy
for the public to demand their resignations.

Agus said the political contracts could help spur
accountability in the Indonesian political system. In the past,
the only political contracts were between legislative candidates
and political parties, which were plagued by backroom dealing.

"Now, the contracts are made between the candidates and the
public in a transparent manner," he said.

The PKS in Yogyakarta, which currently has only one
representative in the provincial legislative council, has
announced a goal of winning seats in each of the five
regency/municipal legislative councils and in the provincial
council.

This would require the party to win at least 10 percent of the
vote in each of the regental election areas.

In the Central Java capital of Semarang, the chairman of the
Central Java chapter of the PKS, Muhammad Afif Ikhwan, said on
Saturday the political contracts were aimed at convincing the
public that the party would be become involved in crooked
politics.

"If they (candidates) are involved in corruption after they
are elected, we will dismiss them from their legislative posts,"
he said.

The political contract in Semarang was signed by PKS
legislative candidates in front of a notary public.