By: Naufal Putra Bratajaya )*
The 2024 General Election (Pemilu) has started to feel warm due to several declarations from political parties and presidential candidates that have been submitted by parties. Of course this political warmth is a sign that the public must be careful with various political maneuvers carried out by politicians, such as money politics.
The practice of money politics is indeed not justified, moreover there are sanctions for people who carry out money politics in the 2024 election as stated in article 515 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning general elections (Pemilu).
Article 515 of the Election Law reads, anyone who deliberately during voting promises or gives money or other materials to voters so that they do not use their right to vote or vote for certain election participants or uses their voting rights in a certain way so that their ballot papers are invalid, will be punished with maximum imprisonment of 3 years and a maximum fine of Rp. 36,000,000.
Meanwhile, criminal threats for individuals or individuals who engage in money politics on voting day are listed in Article 532 paragraph (3) of the Election Law.
Article 532 reads, anyone who deliberately on voting day promises or gives money or other materials to voters not to exercise their right to vote or vote for certain election participants is subject to imprisonment for a maximum of 3 years and a fine of up to Rp. 36,000,000.
Money politics itself does not have a standard definition. The term that has been known as money politics is used to describe political corruption practices, up to buying votes. Money politics is an attempt to bribe voters by providing money or services so that voter preferences can be given to bribes.
There are also various types of money politics. There are things that can be categorized as money politics, such as the use of state facilities for personal gain in connection with elections or local elections. Others can be in the form of providing road facilities or providing bridge facilities that use the state budget for personal gain.
To deal with problems related to money politics, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) asked the public to report when they find indications of money politics ahead of the 2024 elections.
Money politics in Indonesia is fundamental and ingrained in society. This is because it has become a habit inherent in society.
On a different occasion the Alliance of Concerned Democracy said it was necessary to be wary of money politics where this would give birth to corrupt leaders. Chairman of the Alliance of Caring for Democracy Ahmad Nur hopes that the public can play an active role in monitoring and supervising the election implementation process. Of course this cannot be separated from the related agency stakholders, especially the Bawaslu.
Bawaslu of North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan Province, is increasing supervision of money politics practices by utilizing digital applications at the 2024 election stage.
North Penajam Paser Regency Bawaslu member, Mohammad Khazin said, Money politics is a problem in every general election and local election, therefore his party will continue to increase supervision. He emphasized that Bawaslu would process money politics practices that were reported by the public or those that were directly discovered by Bawaslu.
Every alleged practice of money politics is processed by the integrated law enforcement center (kakkumdu), then whether it is proven or not depends on the evidence found. As technology develops, according to him, the mode of money politics in the digital era can be transformed by utilizing digital applications.
In the era of digitization, handing over money or the practice of money politics in general elections and regional elections is not done directly, but can be done by transferring money through applications on cellphones such as OVO, DANA, Gopay and other applications, you can even use an electricity account to credit.
Khazin said that Bawaslu also anticipates the potential for money politics to be carried out through digital applications, although it is not easy to disclose suspected money political practices through digital applications. Bawaslu itself does not yet have technical tools that can directly detect alleged political practices carried out digitally.
Penajam Regency Bawaslu also reminded all parties to reject all forms of money politics, and the public was asked to report money politics violations and other election violations with evidence and witnesses to Bawaslu officers in sub-districts, villages/wards or to the Regency Bawaslu.
In the 2024 election, one of the toughest challenges is that the community has normalized the practice of money politics, and not a few people are reluctant to go to polling stations if there are no candidates to hand out money.
Therefore, vigilance against the practice of money politics cannot be completed by opening the case book once, because today’s money politics has involved many parties. So that supervision from the public is also needed to be aware of this fraudulent practice.
)* The author is an Analyst at the Inti Media Institute
