Campaign Fund Reports for Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Do Not Match Reality

Campaign finance reports are not detailed because they only contain the source and amount of receipts and expenditures of campaign funds, making monitoring difficult. Besides, it doesn't match reality.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Laporan Dana Kampanye Capres-Cawapres Belum Sesuai Realitas

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

The three presidential candidates (from right to left), namely Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto, and Ganjar Pranowo, participated in a debate held by the General Elections Commission (KPU) at the KPU office in Jakarta on Tuesday (12/12/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Reports campaign finances for three presidential and vice presidential candidates do not match reality. A number of expenditures for campaign advertising which are thought to have come from third party donations have not been recorded in the report.

A search by the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) and released in a discussion entitled "(Still) Basics of Campaign Funds", Wednesday (20/12/2023), found that there were already campaign advertisements on social media for the three presidential candidate pairs. and vice presidential candidate. However, the three couples have not reported it to the General Election Commission (KPU). In fact, the KPU designed the report on receipt and expenditure of campaign funds to be updated every day.

Perludem is tracing campaign advertisements on Meta within the period of November 16th to December 15th. The search is conducted using Meta's Ad Library feature, which displays advertisement content and the amount of money spent by advertisers. The search for advertisements used keywords such as the names of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, as well as the names of candidate pairs for the presidency and vice presidency. The search was conducted during this period because campaign funding reports began being created on November 15th and all campaign fund receipts and expenditures should have already been reported.

Also read: Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates Intensely Go to Islamic Boarding School, Hoping for "Heaven's" Blessing and Vote Support

PERLUDEM

The size of campaign advertisements in Meta related to the three candidate pairs for the presidential and vice-presidential positions during the period of November 16th until December 15th, 2023.

The search results revealed that campaign advertisements on social media for presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair number 1, Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, reached Rp 444 million for one month. The advertising accounts amount to 15 accounts, which are alleged to be accounts belonging to supporters or volunteers.

The advertising costs for the social media campaign of presidential and vice presidential candidate number 2, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, have reached IDR 778 million. There are 33 advertiser accounts suspected to be supporters or volunteers. In fact, there is one advertiser account suspected to be a private business entity.

Meanwhile, campaign advertisements on social media for presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair number 3, Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD, have reached Rp 829 million. The ads were created by 87 accounts suspected to be supporters or volunteer groups.

Iklan

Researcher from Perludem, Kahfi Adlan Hafiz, stated that the campaign advertisements on social media should be reported as a third-party donation, whether it is from an individual, group, company, or organization. This is because the advertising account is suspected to not be the official account of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The donation should be recorded as a donation in the form of goods or services.

Also read: PPATK Findings Become Comparative Data for Monitoring Campaign Funds

KOMPAS/PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO

Researcher from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Kahfi Adlan.

"However, according to the initial campaign fund report (LADK) displayed on the Sikadeka page (official KPU page) until the 23rd day of the campaign period, contributions from third parties in the form of goods and services for presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs number 1, 2, and 3 are still empty," he said.

Kahfi stated that all campaign funds donations in the form of money, goods or services must be reported in the campaign finance report. The provision in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections sets the maximum limit of donations, including the clear identity of the donors.

Furthermore, he highlighted the lack of detail in the Campaign Finance Report (Laporan Awal DPPK) as it only contained sources and the amount of campaign funds received and spent. The report should also show the contributors to the campaign. Without clear information, the public and Election Supervisory Body will find it difficult to oversee the campaign finance report.

Researcher from Perludem, Heroik M Pratama, added that discrepancies in campaign fund reports are one of the classic problems in Indonesian elections. Reports made by election participants tend not to reflect the reality on the ground. Contributions from third parties are also often not recorded in campaign fund reports, even though the amount is substantial.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

A campaign banner featuring the face of a legislative candidate is lining up along Jalan Walanda Maramis, Manado, North Sulawesi on Thursday (December 7th, 2023). The campaign period for the 2024 Election will last until February 10th, 2024.

Indonesia Corruption Watch researcher, Egi Primayogha, stated that election participants still consider campaign finance reports as mere formalities. As a result, the reported amount does not reflect the actual receipts and expenditures. However, campaign finance reports could be one of the references for voters to determine their choices.

In addition, election participants often complain about the high cost of politics to win the contest. This can open the door for businesses to "invest" in presidential and vice-presidential candidates illegally. Moreover, findings from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre regarding suspicious transactions are not acted upon by the Election Supervisory Agency, therefore there is no guarantee that the funds used for winning are legal and reported in the campaign funds account.

Also read: Political Costs for Legislative Candidates Facing the 2024 Election are Swelling

Separately, a member of the Election Commission (KPU), Idham Holik, stated that they will increase the socialization to election participants at various levels related to regulations regarding campaign funds. This is done to ensure that election participants comply with campaign fund regulations as well as raising awareness among the public who contribute campaign donations. This is because all donations are bound by a maximum limit and cannot come from criminal acts.