KPK Values Lampung Tengah Regent Case Shows Weak Recruitment of Political Parties
JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) considers the alleged corruption case involving Lampung Tengah Regent Ardito Wijaya to show the weakness of political party recruitment.
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"The fundamental problem is the weak integration of recruitment with kaderization which triggers political dowry, the high number of cadres who move between political parties, and candidates based only on financial strength and popularity," said KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to journalists in Jakarta, Sunday.
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In addition, Budi said the KPK considered the alleged receipt of money amounting to Rp5.25 billion which was used by Ardito Wijaya to pay off bank loans for campaign needs during the 2024 gubernatorial election, showing that the cost of politics in Indonesia is still high at this time.
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"This shows that the cost of politics in Indonesia is still high, which results in the elected regional heads having a large burden to return the political capital, and unfortunately it is done in ways that are against the law, namely corruption," he said.
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Meanwhile, he said the case involving Ardito Wijaya also confirmed one of the hypotheses in the study of political party governance that the KPK was conducting, namely the high need for funds for political parties for election victories, operations, to funding various activities such as congresses or party deliberations.
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"Another hypothesis is that it is not accountable and the transparency of the financial statements, which makes it impossible to prevent the flow of illegal money to political parties," he said.
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"KPK encourages the importance of standardizing the political party's financial reporting system so that it can prevent the flow of illegal money," he said.
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However, he said the KPK was still in the process of completing the study before submitting it to the relevant stakeholders as an effort to prevent corruption.
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Previously, on December 11, 2025, the KPK named the Regent of Central Lampung Ardito Wijaya as one of the five suspects in the alleged receipt of gifts or promises related to the procurement of goods and services, as well as other receipts in the Central Lampung Regency Government in the 2025 fiscal year.
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The KPK suspects Ardito Wijaya received Rp5.75 billion related to the case, and used Rp5.25 billion to repay bank loans for campaign needs during the 2024 Pilkada.
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