Jakarta – In the absence of transparent political funding in the country, alleged misuses of state funds for the interests of those in the navel of power have become banalities of daily life.

So common are such practices that almost everyone can see how political parties and incumbents in government offices have intertwined the state's funds with their political interests.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) classified the allocation of Rp 300 trillion (US$33 billion) of social assistance funds (Bansos) as irregular between 2007 and 2010. The funds were allocated through several poverty eradication programs for regions.

BPK member Rizal Djalil told reporters on Monday that the agency recorded several provinces that had proposed much higher Bansos allocations than normal in the run up to their regional elections.

"There is this 'X' province that proposed Bansos worth Rp 150 billion in 2009, near the time of the regional election, while it had usually proposed only between Rp 5 billion and Rp 6 billion in previous years. The governor won the election that year," he said, adding that similar cases were also found in other provinces all across the country, but he declined to disclose the names of the provinces or the alleged incumbents.

A Home Ministry decree stipulates that social assistance is distributed to finance social activities such as social empowerment programs, social protection and security programs, poverty eradication programs, or disaster recovery programs. It also stipulates that local administrations are responsible for distributing the assistance funds and selecting the recipients.

Rizal, who is affiliated with the National Mandate Party (PAN), said that to eliminate the potential for misallocations of social assistance funds, the government should allocate more money to support political parties.

The misuse of social assistance has been evident, with several local administration officials convicted of embezzling money from such funds. There are many other such cases awaiting attention of the nation's law enforcement institutions.

Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, for example, was reported to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in September for allegedly embezzling social aid funds from the 2011 provincial budget to support her campaign. The governor was accused of embezzling a total of Rp 29.5 billion from state funds.

Such corruption cases, however, are rarely linked to political parties. Lack of legal framework that obligates political parties to report their sources of funding has closed the access to their cash flow.

In the high-profile Southeast Asian (SEA) Games graft case involving former Democratic Party politician Muhammad Nazaruddin, political parties and politicians allegedly pocketed some of the funds. None of the allegations have been proven in court. (msa)