Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A legislative candidate from Lampung, Atte Suganda, says he never thought people would ask him directly for funds to repair a road and football field themselves.
During his ongoing campaign, a group of young men asked for money to clean up a soccer field and to buy refreshments for a soccer competition. "It is fact. You will find many people proposing such repairs," Atte, an incumbent lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said.
Atte is contesting for a seat at the House of Representative within the Lampung electoral district.
He said he encouraged the villagers to ask the provincial administration for the funds to repair the roads in their areas. "If you don't know the game, you will be 'finished' by 'potential' voters," he said.
Atte is among thousands of candidates spending huge funds on their campaigns ahead of the legislative elections in April.
The Constitutional Court recently ruled that only candidates with the most votes would win legislative seats, leading to a blow up of candidate campaign budgets.
Atte said he had spent hundreds of millions of rupiah since his campaign started in July last year. The money has gone toward making street banner and other campaign materials, and to pay his "success team", which consists of about 1,000 people.
"The biggest expense will be paying for witnesses to observe ballot counting at each polling station during the upcoming elections," he said.
"It is just like planting trees. We have to water and fertilize it to keep it growing. When they produce fruit, we have to witness them, otherwise other people will take it."
Atte said he's total budget for the campaign was about Rp 1 billion. "'Rich' candidates could spend up to Rp 4 billion, paying for campaign advertisements on national television," he said. Atte said he preferred to pay for campaign ads on local TV.
There are about 12,000 candidates competing for 560 seats at legislative elections on April 9, 2009.
A senior legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Ganjar Pranowo, acknowledged the high cost for political campaigns ahead of the elections
"It is very dangerous, I wonder how candidates will recover their 'investment' after they win elections," he said. "A friend of mine contesting at the regency level (DPRD) has allocated Rp 1 billion for his campaign. If he wins, he will only receive a salary of about Rp 600 million over five years."
Asked about his own campaign budget, Ganjar, who will join the race for the Central Java electoral district, said, "I have just provided calendars for constituents so far.
"I am also printing examples of ballot papers and I will teach them how to cast their votes," he said. He said he also planned to advertise on local television, which would cost him Rp 1.5 million per 30-minute slot.
The General Elections Comission (KPU) is drafting the schedule for "open door" campaigns to allow candidates to campaign in open spaces for 16 days prior to the election day.
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) said legislative candidates would air massive TV campaign ads days before the elections to win public support.
"We will see huge violations on TV, especially among rich candidates. They will campaign much more than the five minutes allowed by the law," KPI member Izzul Muslimin told the Post on Monday. Common campaign materials include banners, stickers and T-shirts.