'Political parties still need public funds'
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite being accused of ignoring the interests of the public at large, the country's political parties, especially the big ones, are not averse to demanding financial assistance from the country's taxpayers.
Leaders of the big parties in the House of Representatives (DPR), which is currently deliberating the political party bills, which deal with, among other things, financial assistance from the government, argued that the money donated by party members was inadequate to fund their activities.
"We need that (money). If possible, we would like to see the amount increased," said Golkar deputy treasurer Iris Indira Murti at her office here on Friday.
Legislator Zein Badjeber of the United Development Party (PPP) echoed Iris' comments, emphasizing that money from the government, and thus from the people, was crucial for the day-to- day activities of every party.
Their views were in stark contrast to an earlier call by an alliance of 15 smaller parties for the subventions to be ended.
During a hearing with the special committee deliberating the political bills recently, leaders of the small parties suggested that the funds earmarked for the parties should go to financing poverty alleviation programs instead.
The parties calling for the scrapping of the government subventions included the Justice Party (PK), the Justice and Unity Party (PKP), the People's Sovereignty Party (PDR), and the Nahdlatul Ulama Party (PNU). They all failed to reach the electoral threshold of two percent to qualify for participation in the 2004 general election.
Each of the 48 political parties that participated in the 1999 general election received a Rp 150 million handout from the government to finance their campaigns.
Based on Government Regulation No.50/2001 on the government's electoral subvention, the parties are to receive Rp 1,000 for each vote they garnered in the 1999 election. That makes President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which won the 1999 election with almost 34 million votes, the biggest recipient of government funds at Rp 34 billion.
The government's largesse has, however, come under the spotlight as legislators have consistently failed to meet their legislative targets due to seemingly endless politicking. Dozens of bills intended to reform the country's political, legal and economic life are yet to be deliberated by the House.
Achmad Farhan Hamid of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which came fifth in the 1999 election, backed calls for the scrapping of the government handouts.
Farhan, who chairs the Reform Faction, said on Friday that political parties should be free from outside interference, implying that any subsidy from the government constituted intervention.
Financial aid from the government could be used to put pressure on political parties to bow down to the will of the ruling party.
"Besides, financial aid from the government could lead to violations of the electoral and political party laws," Farhan told The Jakarta Post.
According to Farhan, most parties had violated the provisions of Law No.2/1999 on political parties, especially the stipulation requiring parties to submit a list of their donors and amount of donations received to the Supreme Court 15 days before and 30 days after an election.
The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) disclosed earlier that almost all parties had submitted written reports on the use of government funds during the 1999 general election, but only a few had submitted the mandatory annual reports.
Iris rejected this, saying: "That's not true, we always submit our financial reports (to the Supreme Court), although they're often filed late."