Besides foreign countries, central, regional and village governments, regional and national state-owned companies, as well as unknown sources are not permitted to give donations.
Mamuju, West Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Political parties in Indonesia participating in next years general elections have been barred from accepting donations from foreign countries, an official from the countrys general election supervising agency (Bawaslu) has said.

"Foreign funds are often used by political parties during campaigning. Therefore, Bawaslu officials in the region must strictly monitor funding to ensure that does not happen," Busaran Riandy, the chairman of the West Sulawesi chapter of Bawaslu, said here on Thursday.

He said the ban is mentioned in the General Elections Commission regulation number 17 2013 on election funding.

"Campaign activities for the election of district/city, provincial and national legislative members have to be funded. It is the responsibility of the political parties and candidates concerned to ensure that the funds come from legal sources," he pointed out.

For the election of Regional Council members, campaign funds should come from the candidates concerned or from legitimate donations from a third party, he added.

Busran noted that donations may not always be in cash; they can also be in the form of goods and services.

He said campaign funds received must be reported and submitted for an audit by public accountants.

Besides foreign countries, central, regional and village governments, regional and national state-owned companies, as well as unknown sources are not permitted to give donations, he added.

"Foreign funds are funds given by foreign citizens, countries, governments and companies. They also include funds from Indonesian companies in which a majority of shares are held by foreign parties, foreign non-governmental organizations and foreign mass organizations," he elaborated.

He said regional governments in charge of supervising political parties, in particular, have the potential to attract foreign donations ahead of the elections.

"It is not inconceivable that regional officials who are supervisors of political parties receive donations from foreign or private parties. We must prevent such occurrences so that the 2014 general elections are held in a democratic manner," he added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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