Prevent Corruption Money Flow, KPK Emphasizes the Importance of Political Parties to Create Financial Reporting Standards

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) considers that there needs to be a clear system and standard for political parties in managing their finances. The way is said to be important to prevent the flow of money from corruption.

This was conveyed by KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo after his agency named Lampung Tengah Regent Ardito Wijaya as a bribery suspect. He is known to have set a fee from a procurement project, which he then used to pay off debts while running for the 2024 Pilkada.

"The KPK encourages the importance of standardization and financial reporting systems for political parties so that they are able to prevent the flow of illegal money," Budi told reporters, quoted on Monday, December 15.

Budi also said that this case was a reflection of the impact of the high cost of politics in Indonesia. The KPK is said to have conducted a study on this and mapped a number of things, including the many requirements that must be met by prospective regional heads such as for winning elections, party operations, to funding various activities such as congresses or party deliberations.

"In addition, the unaccountability and transparency of the political party's financial statements make it impossible to prevent the flow of illegal money to political parties," he said.

Apart from the account, Budi said, the weakness of kaderisasi also triggered corruption. "Another fundamental problem is the weakness of the integration of recruitment with kaderisasi which triggers political dowry, the high number of cadres who move between political parties, and candidates based only on financial strength and popularity," he said.

In the future, the anti-corruption commission will complete their study on political parties. "And later will submit recommendations for improvement to related stakeholders, as an effort to prevent corruption," said Budi.

As previously reported, the KPK held a hand-in-hand operation (OTT) in the Jakarta and Central Lampung regions on Monday and Tuesday, December 9-10. From this activity, the team secured a number of people including the Regent of Central Lampung Ardito Wijaya.

Furthermore, Ardito was named a suspect along with four other people. They are Riki Hendra Saputra as a member of the Lampung Tengah DPRD; Ranu Hari Prasetyo as Ardito's younger brother; Anton Wibowo as acting head of the Lampung Tengah Regional Revenue Agency as well as a close relative of Ardito; and Mohamad Lukman Sjamsuri as a private party or Director of PT Elkaka Mandiri.

"The money was obtained through the procurement conditioning mechanism, namely winning the company owned by the family or the winning team," said the KPK.

"From the amount of money he received, Ardito used it for operational funds of Rp500 million and repaid the bank loan when he advanced as a candidate for regional head. The value of the debt is said to be Rp5.25 billion," said the Head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a statement, Thursday, July 28.

"Ardito, Anton, Riki, and Ranu as recipients are suspected of violating the provisions of Article 12 letter a or Article 12 letter b or Article 11 or Article 12 B of Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the eradication of corruption as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning changes to Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the eradication of corruption Jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

"The defendant is suspected of violating the provisions of Article 5 Paragraph (1) letter a or Article 5 Paragraph (1) letter b or Article 13 of Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning Changes to Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.