Between August and November 2025, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested at least three regional leaders, including governors and regents. Notably, these officials had served for less than a year, having been inaugurated only in February. According to KPK records, 51 percent of the commission’s corruption cases involve regional officials. From 2004 to 2024, a total of 167 regional heads in Indonesia were implicated in corruption cases.
UGM Professor of Public Policy Governance Gabriel Lele stated that the primary motive driving officials to commit corruption is the high cost of politics during candidacy, coupled with the state’s insufficiently fair treatment of regional leaders’ welfare in enabling them to recover funds spent during elections.
“Some regional leaders are not financed by their parties, and the majority have to fund their campaigns independently,” he said on Monday (Dec. 8).
According to Professor Lele, the government has, in fact, undertaken several measures to reduce corruption, first, by reforming the party system from mass-based parties to cadre-based parties. Cadre parties generally have clearer ideologies and stable memberships.
Second, by having the state finance campaign preparations, albeit with the significant risk that such funds may not always be used optimally.
Beyond government efforts, Professor Lele emphasized that, ideally, the public should choose candidates or political parties based on programmatic considerations rather than other factors, such as money politics.
“If the public dares to reject practices like vote-buying or unclear forms of assistance with political motives, I believe political parties will reconsider such practices,” he said.
For Professor Lele, the key to reducing corruption among regional leaders lies in political awareness or public political education. As long as the majority of society remains trapped in poverty and has low levels of education, change will be challenging to achieve.
By increasing political awareness, people will better understand that their votes are valuable and cannot be traded.
“Those who deserve their votes are candidates with clear and credible programs,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, regarding oversight of electoral fraud, Gabriel admitted that he does not yet have strong confidence in enhanced supervision unless violations are directly prosecuted and categorized as electoral crimes. This is because Indonesia’s law enforcement system remains weak, making prevention more effective than relying solely on monitoring.
“I still place my primary hope in the people rather than in their leaders,” he stressed.
Author: Jesi
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Rajendra Arya
Illustration: Freepik