TII: Political party reform needed to prevent regional head corruption
The Indonesian Institute (TII) considers political party reform to be the primary step in preventing corruption among regional heads, by improving political recruitment systems, campaign financing, and party governance, rather than merely relying on salary increase policies.
Public policy observer and TII Research Associate Arfianto Purbolaksono assessed that corruption by regional heads cannot be resolved solely through a welfare improvement approach. According to him, the root of the problem lies in the political system that produces public officials.
“This country is in a state of political corruption emergency within the Indonesian democratic system. Therefore, the solutions offered must not stop at the issue of salary or welfare alone. Political corruption must be viewed from upstream to downstream, starting from how a political official is recruited, financed, until they eventually win a political contest,” Arfianto said in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
The statement was made in response to a proposal by the Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR), Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda, who suggested raising regional heads’ salaries as an effort to suppress corrupt practices.
Arfianto assessed that the high political costs in elections are one of the main causes of corrupt practices. According to him, the large campaign expenses, including money politics practices, encourage some regional heads to attempt to recover their political capital after taking office.
He argued that if the government and the DPR are serious about breaking the chain of corruption, attention should not be sufficiently focused on law enforcement or salary increases, but must target the improvement of the political system.
“Raising regional heads’ salaries may be part of improving bureaucratic governance. However, considering a salary increase as the main solution to eradicating corruption is a misdirected approach. The core problem lies in the high cost of politics, weak political party governance, and a suboptimal political recruitment system,” he said.
Arfianto noted that a TII study titled “Encouraging Political Party Institutional Reform to be Inclusive, Relevant, and Responsive (2021)” recommends political party institutional reform as the foundation for preventing political corruption.
The study encourages the implementation of a political recruitment system based on meritocracy, gender equality, and representation, conducted openly, transparently, and accountably, without being dominated by patronage or kinship interests.
Furthermore, TII also encourages the strengthening of campaign finance reporting regulations to increase the transparency and accountability of political party finances, thereby narrowing the space for money politics and the misuse of political resources.
“Political parties are the main pillars of democracy. If the political recruitment process within parties remains weak and political costs remain high, then corruption will continue to recur, regardless of who is elected as regional head. Therefore, political party reform must be the main agenda if we truly want to build a clean government and a quality democracy,” Arfianto said.
He added that the success of political party reform will have an impact on improving the quality of democracy, governance, and public trust in political institutions. Conversely, without such improvements, political corruption practices are considered likely to continue repeating even if various policies, including regional head salary increases, are implemented.