There Is Nothing To Build A Super Tbk Party If You Still Hope To Disburse State Money

The 7th Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed his political views with the Jakarta Cagub number 1 Ridwan Kamil at a joint dialogue event in Jakarta, Monday (18/11/2024). (ANTARA/Muhammad Adimaja/foc)

The 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has again made a story through his idea to establish a new political party. According to Jokowi, the new political party will be very open to everyone. The man who was born in Boyolali, Central Java likened the new political party to an open company, and Jokori termed it a super tbk party.

In Jokowi's exclusive interview with Najwa Shihab on Mata Najwa's YouTube channel on February 11, 2025, the former Mayor of Surakarta and the Governor of DKI Jakarta said that the super-tbk party was to answer about the individual political parties he had conveyed.

However, Jokowi has not explained in detail the form of the super tbk party he initiated. Even so, Jokowi believes that in the future the ideal political party will have such a form.

"That's new in mind. It was just finalized, our wish is a super political party," Jokowi said in an interview with Najwa.

Jokowi himself currently does not have a party. This condition is the same as his eldest son who is currently the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The father and son were fired from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). On December 16, 2024 they were fired on the grounds of violating the code of ethics and the Articles of Association and Household Budget.

Jokowi's idea about the super tbk party does make the forehead snaking. In Indonesia or maybe around the world there is no such form of political party. Even in the United States as the source of democracy, the format of the super tbk party as Jokowi wanted does not exist yet.

In general, so far, two types of political parties are known. These two types are cadre political parties and mass-based political parties. The two types of political parties are common in many democratic countries, and are able to coexist. Perhaps Jokowi wants to form a party that is a merger of the two types, by taking some of their characteristics.

The Democratic Party in Uncle Sam's country as the oldest political party in the world that is still active is not super tbk. Formed by the duet of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren in Baltimore, Maryland on January 8, 1828, the Democratic Party was led by the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) currently chaired by Ken Martin. The committee is tasked with coordinating the political strategies that will be implemented across the country, both local, state and national levels.

Perhaps the understanding given by the Chairman of the Jokowi President Volunteers Front (Bara JP), Utje Gustav can provide a little picture. According to Utje, the super tbk party that Jokowi wants is similar to cooperatives. Jokowi is said to want to involve the widest possible public participation in political parties.

"The super political party is like a cooperative owned by 100 percent of its members. Now it's like a company, which holds a handful of people," said Utje to Tempo.co.

When talking about tbk, what comes to mind is that the super party Jokowi wants will be independent on funding because the share ownership is owned by many people. Is it true that later the funding of the super party will be like the company conducting the Initial Public Offering (IPO)?

The problem of funding political parties is indeed a problem in many democracies in the world. Secretary General of Transparency International Indonesia, Danang Widoyoko in an article entitled Landangan Regulation of Political Funding states that there are two perspectives for funding political parties, namely relational and institutional.

Relational perspectives see political funding within the framework between the state and society. Political parties, which were initially part of the community entirely, but their development depended heavily on funding assistance from the state. That is possible if the source of traditional party funding, such as contributions, is decreasing over time.

By receiving funding from the state, political parties are also bound by various strict administrative rules. The dependence of political parties on state subsidies, makes them fall short in competing. They prefer a collusion way to survive. In the end, political parties like this will become part of the ruling coalition rather than the opposition. Because they are part of the rulers, political parties get access to their political funding.

Institutional perspectives view political funding as an institution or institution that can be widely understood. In this broad definition of institutions, political funding can be seen as an institution regulated through formal and informal rules. Here it is more important to have game rules.

Danang cites the formulation of economists from the United States who have won the Nobel Prize, Douglas North. According to North, institutions are a rule of play in society. Institutions are human devices that structure human interactions and consist of formal rules such as laws and regulations, or informals such as conventions, norms of behavior, code of conduct and enforcement of rules.

In the end, the two perspectives of funding for political parties still lead to state assistance. The idealism that political parties can live on donations, according to Danang, in fact never existed. Even in established democracy, the contribution from members has actually decreased, and political parties are increasingly dependent on funding from the state.

What about the idea of the super tbk party that Jokowi wants? If you are able to fully fund independently without relying on state subsidies, that is extraordinary. But if the pattern is the same as the old one, what is the point of holding the name of the super tbk party?