Political Parties and the Power of Money in Indonesia and Beyond

Abstract

Political parties in Indonesia and in other parts of Southeast Asia have become vitally dependent on the financial support of individuals or conglomerates with large private fortunes. A remarkable new development is that some of the billionaires who have long sponsored political parties have decided to out themselves as political leaders, and thus to adopt the style of oligarchs. I define an oligarchy as a society featuring systematic conflation of political and economic power within the same individuals or within small, elite groups of such individuals in a manner that is visible, tolerated and hence legitimated. The gradual shift from clandestine money politics to open oligarchy is a significant challenge for contemporary liberal democracies. Conflicts of interest between the demands of public office and their private interests would seem difficult to avoid for politicians who also run large business empires and own great estates. On the other hand, for billionaire sponsors of political parties to come forward and stand for public office personally also means that their hitherto clandestine influence is becoming more transparent, and their conduct and decisions more subject to public scrutiny and accountability. This article describes how both direct and indirect ways of conducting money politics operate and coexist within different types of political parties in Indonesia today, what the significance of these differences is and what is changing; with special reference to the 2014 parliamentary elections in Indonesia.

Women’s political pathways in Southeast Asia

“…While trying to promote images of supporting women's political advancement, Indonesia's major parties have figured out ways of extending their masculine politics by choosing women candidates just for the sake of the 30 percent quotas and not nurturing them to be more relevant to the operation of parties (Prihatini 2018, 54-55). Indonesian women also face big financial burdens as elections have become increasingly expensive, as broad networks of brokers and distributions of cash and club goods have become the key to electoral success (Tapol 2009;Reuter 2015;Aspinall and Sukmajati 2016). One of the consequences is reflected in apparently low reelection rates among local women legislators.…”

The Effect of Acceptance and Management of Political Party Funds on the Future of Political in Indonesia

“…Therefore, political parties must be smart in choosing donors who will donate their funds to their party. In addition, political parties must also be able to manage funds obtained from various sources (Sartori, 2015;Mietzner, 2015;Reuter, 2015). Incompatibility of fund management in political parties can cause problems for the party.…”

Pengaruh transaksional elit politik terhadap model komunikasi politik pilwalkot Serang 2018

“…Ongkos dan beban dari pemilukada sebagai sebuah legalisasi yang benar dalam menentukan pemimpin yang sah menurut aturan yang berlaku, pada akhirnya tersandera pada transaksi-transaksi kepentingan yang berujung pada kekuatan modal. Untuk dapat menggerakkan mesin partai harus didukung oleh dana yang besar, oleh karenanya partai sangat tergantung pada kekuatan uang dimana kekuatan tersebut berada pada elit-elit partai politik tersebut (Reuter, 2015). Beberapa studi empiris memperlihatkan bagaimana proses transaksional di pemilukada melahirkan pada sebuah fenomena yang memiliki kecenderungan negatif seperti halnya melahirkan para pemimpin yang tersandera oleh kasus hukum seperti halnya korupsi (Solihah, 2016), melahirkan praktek money politic yang tidak sesuai dengan kaidah demokrasi dan bertentangan dengan hukum (Ali, 2003), selain dari itu transaksional money politic melahirkan sebuah fenomena relasi dari masyarakat dan calonnya, karena harus disadari bahwa pemilihan langsung tidak selalu dapat mengandalkan pada partai pengusung akan tetapi harus dibangun langsung kepada pemilih (Aminuddin & Attamimi, 2019).…”