Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) says it has reported nine major political parties to the Central Information Commission (KIP) for failing to disclose their financial reports.
An ICW representative alleged that the parties had declined to make public their financial reports to hide money laundering practices.
"We requested that all political parties disclose their 2010 and 2011 financial reports in April," ICW researcher Apung Widadi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday at the KIP's office in Jakarta. "However, until now, the nine political parties haven't responded to the request. It means they are not transparent."
The parties that declined to comply with the ICW's request included the Democratic Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP), the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra), the Peoples Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), according to the ICW.
Apung said that the parties might have been cryptic on their financial reports as they did not have good financial management systems in place needed to compile reports.
"We all know that the actual funding of political parties could reach into the billions of rupiah. Given such facts, it is logical to assume that political parties have become money-laundering institutions," Apung said.
He added the parties might not have been transparent with their financial reports because they lacked commitment. "That is why they ignored our request."
The nine parties questioned by the ICW are entitled to public money as they hold almost all the seats in the House of Representatives (DPR). The money is allotted based their performance in the 2000 election.
Under the 2010 State Budget, the Democratic Party, for example, received Rp 2.34 billion (US$248,040) in public money, while Golkar received Rp 1.62 billion and the PDI-P received Rp 1.57 billion.
Under the 2008 Political Parties Law, political parties receiving public funding must account for the money in reports submitted to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
Apung said that PKS and Gerindra had given their financial reports to the ICW, although he described the reports as inadequate.
"We appreciate PKS and Gerinda for responding to the request, however, their reports appears only as formality. They were not complete," he said.
According to the 2008 Freedom of information Law, as public institutions, political parties are obliged to respond to public information requests within 30 days.
The KIP has established a multiple phase process to resolve contested information requests, including mediation and adjudication.
Political parties can be sanctioned by the KIP, albeit lightly, if they fail to comply with the commission's decisions.
"The sanctions that the KIP can issue might not be that heavy, but if they do issue a sanction then the bigger punishment will be the moral sanction from the public," Apung said.
Apung said that the ICW intends to push political parties to reform before the upcoming 2014 general election.
The ICW previously said that the operational funds of political parties receiving public money had been spent on items such as electricity bills, staff salaries and archiving instead of political education.
The watchdog group also noted that Golkar, the PDI-P, and the PPP did not allocate any funds for political education, despite Home Ministry decree No. 24/2009, which mandates such allocations.