"And the budget fund at ministries and agencies is highly prone to manipulation."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has predicted that 2013 will be a political year, in which there will be many abuses of state budget fund at ministries and governmental agencies ahead of 2014 elections.
"In 2013, there will be many practices of state budget manipulation by ministries and agencies occupied by political parties," FITRA Secretary General Yuna Farhan said at a press conference here on Friday.
He said in 2013, there will also be a symptom, called the `political budget title` which indicates the use of state budget fund for public service programs aimed at building the images of political figures and parties in an attempt to win the elections.
"And the budget fund at ministries and agencies is highly prone to manipulation to run programs that may attract voters` sympathy," he stated.
According to Farhan, the abuse of state budget at ministries and agencies will come in the form of social assistance, and the budget allocations for social assistance are higher than those set in the 2012 and 2013 state budgets.
"The budget allocations for social assistance at ministries and agencies has increased by about Rp14.5 trillion to Rp73.5 trillion in the 2013 state budget from Rp59 trillion in the draft 2013 state budget after being discussed at the parliament," he explained.
"The social assistance that is not allocated to official programs could be used for the benefit of certain political parties ahead of the elections," he added.
Earlier, political observer Ari Junaedi of the University of Indonesia stated that the government should closely monitor the use of state budget fund at ministries and agencies throughout 2013 to prevent political parties from abusing the budget to make preparations for the 2014 elections.
"In 2013, there will be a tendency of state budget fund being abused to make preparations for the 2014 elections as the majority of ministries` and agencies` leaders come from political parties," he said.
Therefore, Junaedi urged the government to encourage inspectorate general at each ministry and agency to monitor the use of state budget to ensure that it will be used according to the public interests.
Besides, he expressed hope that other national institutions, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Center for Transaction Reporting and Analysis (PPATK) will participate in monitoring the use of state budget fund at ministries and agencies.
(T.Y012/KR-BSR/S012)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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