Jakarta, IDN Times – The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) assesses that general elections (elections) which are held proportionally behind closed doors will not guarantee that they will be free from the practice of money politics.
Needem Executive Director Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati explained that there are many factors that can influence the practice of money politics in elections, for example political party factors, corrupt culture, political education in society and law enforcement.
Changing the system may not necessarily solve the problem of money politics, it could just be that the locus has shifted. He realizes that the electoral system currently implemented will certainly have its weaknesses. Therefore, there needs to be a total evaluation to avoid the practice of money politics.
This statement also answers the position of Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Party, Jansen Sitindaon, who considers that the 2024 Legislative Member Election (Pileg) is characterized by massive money politics practices both at regional and central levels. “Changing the system may not necessarily solve the problem of money politics, it could be “Only the locus has moved,” said Khoirunnisa when contacted, Sunday (18/3/2024).
1. The roots of money politics are due to the ideological weakness of political parties
According to Khoirunnisa, the roots of money politics come from the weak ideological commitment of political parties which are not evenly distributed with low tendencies. On the other hand, society is becoming increasingly pragmatic due to weak education, high poverty, unfavorable regulations, corrupt culture and problems with law enforcement. Therefore, according to him, if only the system is replaced, of course there is no guarantee. But it is also necessary to encourage party institutionalization, law enforcement and political education in society. “One of the roots of money politics is the weak ideological commitment of political parties which are not evenly distributed with low tendencies,” he said.
2. Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Party values the political factor of money because the elections are open proportional
Previously, Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Party, Jansen Sitindaon, assessed that the rise of money politics was one of the factors due to the open proportional legislative election system. Voters can openly vote based on the name of the legislative candidate. Voters are given the authority to choose the desired legislative candidates according to the list of each political party participating in the election. Meanwhile, in a closed proportional system technically voters can only choose party symbols, so there is no list of legislative candidates’ names on the ballot paper. The elected legislative candidates are adjusted based on the serial number determined by the party’s internal mechanism. “I also apologize to the public and the wider community for being a fighter for an open system in the Constitutional Court yesterday. Which apparently made the Legislative Election this time more ‘barbarous’ at all levels “Indiscriminately, from District/City DPRD, Province to Republic of Indonesia,” he said. Jansen admitted that all this time he had been wrong in fighting for the implementation of an open proportional system. “I hereby change my view and position on that. Because I see the reality and practice in elections. “This time, it turns out that I was wrong in fighting to maintain this system,” he said.
3. Jansen thrust open proportional system modified
Therefore, Jansen is pushing for changes to the proportional system in future legislative elections. He then invited elected legislative members in the future to revise the rules of the legislative election system, because the open proportional system is considered to foster money politics. “When you sit in the DPR, through legislative procedures, please change this system. So that this political money will slowly decrease and disappear. “Don’t keep adding to the barrage from election to election,” he said. “When action against money politics fails/doesn’t work, because everyone thinks this is a reasonable thing to do, then all that remains is to change the system. Even though it won’t necessarily be effective,” he added.
This article was published on Idntimes.com with the title “Perludem: Pemilu Proporsional Tertutup Tak Jamin Bebas Politik Uang”, https://www.idntimes.com/news/indonesia/amir-faisol/perludem-pemilu-proporsional-tertutup-tak-jamin-bebas-politik-uang.