Expensive Democracy is The Source of Corruption

Jakarta- Chief Editor of Media Umat Tabloid, Farid Wadjdi says that democracy becomes the source of corruption because democratic system produces a very expensive political system.

“Political parties and politicians need huge amount of funds for capital in the elections,” he said in a Talk Show held by Media Umat Tabloid on Sunday (10/3) in Islamic Book Fair in Senayan, Jakarta.

Farid said that a candidate for governor and his deputy in a regional election need capital starting from Rp 100 to Rp 150 billion. Meanwhile, the salary of a governor in a year is Rp 1.2 billion. If his office term is 5 years, then the governor will earn around Rp 6 billion.

“We can imagine the huge political cost to pay with that amount of salary, how can they cover the very expensive political cost,” said the Chairman of HTI Central Board before the participants.

At that time, according to Farid, the coalition occurs between the capital owners and the politicians. “Politicians need money from the capital owners to fulfill the need of the capital, the result will be that the political policies are directed at the capital owners,” he explained.

As a result, according to the Ministry of Interior, there are 474 regional officers who are involved in corruption practices with 330 of whom are convicted, 49 are defendants, and 95 are suspects.

Such things  are also confirmed by a researcher from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Ade Irawan. He said that political parties in 2014 require a huge capital. “Huge capital can extend power,” he explained.

Ade said, there was a testimony of a politician when talking to him that the sources of money of a political party come from three. “State budget, state budget, and state budget” he relaxingly said before the participants making them burst into laughter.

As a result, Ade believed that from 2013 to 2014 Indonesian state budget is under threat, “other capital is found in businessmen, so we no longer know which ones are rulers and which ones are businessmen,” he concluded.

The Talk Show held in Islamic Book Fair (IBF) entitled “Democracy is the Source of Corruption” also presented Mujianto as a moderator (Managing Editor of Media Umat Tabloid) and Ustadz Hari Moekti (Former Rocker turned-to-Islamic-preacher) [] (rz/Mediaumat.com 10/3 / 2013)