Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – A coalition of NGO activists, experts and lawmakers has called for a reform in the political party financing system.

The coalition, the Society for Election and Democracy (Perludem) proposed that the government adopt its proposal for the amendment of the 2008 law on general elections.

"The future of democracy is at risk because of the growing public distrust of political parties. One of the most serious problems affecting the parties is their financing system," Perludem chairman Didik Supriyanto said.

Didik said that the existing financing system allowed parties to practice corruption when raising funds. He also said that the way parties raised money could allow donors to impose their agenda.

Didik said that now political parties were becoming reliant on party leaders and individual donations, as well as contributions from lawmakers or government officials as their sources of funding.

"The internal dynamics within political parties are becoming more and more elitist and resembling an oligarchy," Didik said.

In its policy proposal, the coalition called for an amendment of the Election Law that would oblige political parties to report their book-keeping, including initial campaign funds, the amount of budget spent, as well as lists of donors. The reports must be audited by a public accounting firm and published online.

"We also suggest that the amended law gives an ample amount of time for political parties to complete their book-keeping. For example, the existing law gives political parties only seven days to submit their campaign financial reports to the Jakarta General Elections Commission. It will be reasonable to give them 21 days given the problems of human resources and geography," Perludem executive director Titi Anggraini said.

Titi said that the group was now discussing whether to raise government earmarks for political parties, "We have yet to conclude whether [the measure] is needed or how much the ideal figures are. But we all agree that money from the state budget can't cover most of what parties need," she said. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Ganjar Pranowo called for an increase in the budget allocated for political parties. He also called on the government to set up clear-cut rules of the game.

"Political parties will be forced to file reports on how the budgets were used, which later will be audited by the BPK [Supreme Audit Agency]," he said.

"No one can guarantee that a particular system can curb corruption, but if we don't set the rules, they will keep raising money from illegal sources like they do now," Ganjar said.