Indonesia’s election campaigns are an expensive business. They can even lead political parties to financial ruin. From spending on such things as free music concerts, food, T-shirts, stickers and expenses for candidates, parties need funds to cover their campaign costs.

Some politicians may even attempt to use illegitimate funding sources, which will undermine their parties’ and candidates’ integrity.

How much are the political parties willing to invest in order to contest the upcoming elections next month, compared with the last elections?

Political parties and candidates often do not hesitate to heavily invest in their campaigns. In the 2004 and 2009 legislative elections, the total funds reported to the state auditor were 298 billion rupiah (S$32.1 million) and 826 billion rupiah, respectively.

… Fitri Bintang Timur is an Associate Research Fellow and Adhi Priamarizki is a Senior Analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Political parties have submitted for official vetting their preliminary campaign budgets for the legislative elections that will be held on 9 April 2014. There are lessons to be learned from the 2009 elections. This commentary is part of a series on Indonesia’s national elections this year.

INDONESIA’S ELECTION campaigns are an expensive business. They can even lead political parties to financial ruin. From spending on such things as free music concerts, food, t-shirts and stickers to expenses for candidates, parties need funds to cover their campaign costs. Some politicians may even attempt to use illegitimate funding sources which will undermine their parties’ and candidates’ integrity.

How much are the political parties willing to invest in order to contest the forthcoming elections in April 2014 compared to the last election? Political parties and candidates often do not hesitate to heavily invest in their campaigns. In the 2004 and 2009 legislative elections, the total funds reported to the state auditor is Rp 298 billion (US$25 million) and Rp 826 billion (US$62 million) respectively. For the upcoming election, the preliminary campaign budgets registered with the Indonesian Election Commission (KPU) have reached Rp 927 billion (US$76 million).

… Fitri Bintang Timur is an Associate Research Fellow and Adhi Priamarizki is a Senior Analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.