Hans David Tampubolon – As graft and accusations of graft drag down the Democratic Party's top politicians, questions are springing up about the party's fundraising for the 2014 campaigns.
The seven-year prison term for Muhammad Nazaruddin, the corrupt former chief treasurer of the party, has raised innumerable speculations about the source of party funds.
Although Nazaruddin's case broke in May 2011, the party did not name a replacement until November last year, when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the party's founder, pleading absolute commitment to transparency, appointed his cousin Sartono Hutomo.
Sartono owns numerous international hotels in Bali and is the former chairman of the party's Bali branch. He was not a supporter of Anas Urbaningrum during the 2010 congress to the new party chairman.
At that time, Sartono supported then youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng, who resigned recently; yet another suspect in another graft case.
Sartono, along with legislator Mirwan Amir and businessman Handoyo Mulyadi, were Nazaruddin's deputies in the party's treasury division. Mirwan and Handoyo still hold these positions.
Mirwan is a former deputy chair of the House of Representatives budget committee. This committee is well-known as an epicenter of graft. Many former members of the committee are now behind bars.
Mirwan's record in raising money for the party has recently come under the microscope. He resigned from his position on the budget committee when the KPK started asking unwelcome questions about the regional infrastructure fund his committee approved. Nazaruddin has occasionally mentioned Mirwan's name in court.
Mirwan is now a member of House Commission I for defense, intelligence and information. While Mirwan is unlikely to contribute much to party coffers, the party is expected to rely more on Handoyo's family.
The family controls Tempo Group, Indonesia's pharmaceutical giant, whose portfolio includes healthcare brands such as Bodrex and Hemaviton. The family has been steadily contributing to the party since the 2004 election.
"There's no doubt about ability to finance our campaigns in 2014 through legal means. Aside from contributions from businessmen, our legislators have more than enough wherewithal to finance their own campaigns," Sartono told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Rumors are legion that there is not enough in the Democrat's kitty to finance campaigns for the election. A party source said that at least Rp 9 billion (US$930,000) is needed each month just to keep the party ticking over. This excludes campaign funds, donations and advertising costs.
Aside from losing Nazaruddin's unmatched ability to raise funds from unexpected quarters, donations have slumped following the conviction of crooked deputy secretary general and legislator Angelina "Angie" Sondakh, and the shadow over Andi.
Nazaruddin, Angie and Andi are still entangled in further graft scandals in various Youth and Sports Ministry projects. The KPK has revealed how the party used ill-gotten funds to finance not only legislators but also local-leader candidates during the elections.
Nazaruddin repeatedly testified during his trials that his conduct was well-known to, and approved by the Democratic Party's top officials.
Mirwan, however, denies the allegations. "What Nazaruddin and his accomplishes did was only to benefit themselves, not the party. It is not true that our finances depended on them," Mirwan said.
Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) recently submitted a request to the Public Information Committee (KIP) to require the party to fully disclose its finances, and the KIP ruled in favor of the ICW.
However, ICW coordinator Abdullah Dahlan said that the party had shown no intention of complying with the ruling. "The Democratic Party has not given us the requested data on its finances.
"The party has been campaigning about the importance of integrity to clean up its tarnished image. What better way to campaign about integrity than to fully reveal the party's finances?" Abdullah said.
In response to the ICW request, Mirwan said that the party intended to fully cooperate, and the financial report would be released publicly.
Mirwan also promised that the Democratic Party would only use legal funding sources to finance their election campaign. "Those sources include fees paid by members and donations. All of these will be fully audited and will be open to public scrutiny," he said.