Dawn attack is a term used to refer to money politics ahead of elections.
KPK’s Head of the Reporting Division, Ali Fikri, stated that it is a response to prospective presidential candidate (capres) Prabowo Subianto’s statement in which he recommended people to accept money politics, as he considered it the people’s money.
"To the people, money politics, such as sharing money during this ongoing process, is corruptive behavior," Fikri stated in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He believes that accepting money in politics is the onset of the criminal act of corruption. In his opinion, parties that distribute that money will seek a way to gain back their capital by committing corruption.
"Ultimately, according to studies and several cases handled by KPK, it has the same motive, which is to gain back the capital that has been used. I think those practices should not happen again," he expounded.
Earlier, during the 11th anniversary celebration of Pondok Pesantren Ora Aji in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, on Friday (Sept 8), Subianto stated that people could accept the money handed out following the 2024 Election. In his opinion, that money is considered as being the people’s money.
"We must maintain concord between us. We must also maintain peace, and as Gus Miftah stated, if someone is handing out money, just accept it. That is also the people’s money. It is the people’s money," Subianto remarked.
"If it is distributed, accept it. However, follow your heart (and) choose who you think will do the best for the nation, the people, and your children," he stated.
On July 14, 2023, the KPK officially launched the "Beat Money Politics" campaign to encourage people to refuse, avoid, and shield themselves from the temptation of money politics as they face the 2024 General Election.
Head of KPK, Firli Bahuri, stated that the celebration of democracy is the people’s event. Through the 2024 election, people will elect and determine their fate for the next five years, he affirmed.
The elected leader from the election is a representation of the public's aspirations for change, justice, and prosperity for everyone.
Meanwhile, a study by the Faculty of Social Political Sciences (Fisipol) at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta showed that the practice of money politics has become a culture and has constructed the process of democracy.
Consequently, political costs swell, thereby creating a vulnerable gap for election participants to "play dirty" by looking for illegal sources of funds.
A survey by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) regarding the 2019 elections recorded that 47.7 percent of the public affirms the existence of money politics, while 46.7 percent of them state that money politics is reasonable.
That is an ironic fact because if the elected figure does not have integrity, it is possible that the policies taken will be far from the people’s expectations.
Furthermore, KPK’s study regarding money politics stated that 72 percent of the voters accept money politics. When analyzed further, 82 percent of the recipients are women over the age of 35.
According to the KPK study, economic factors, pressure from other parties, penalty permissiveness, and ignorance of money politics are major reasons behind women accepting money politics.
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Related news: Police to form Anti-Money Politics Task Force before 2024 elections
Translator: Fianda S, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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