As the 2024 elections approach, especially the presidential/vice presidential elections, there will certainly be campaigns in various media. My question is, where is the legal campaign money coming from? Then, what is the law if a presidential candidate receives foreign funding for campaigning?
DAFTAR ISI
INTISARI JAWABAN
Each pair of presidential and vice-presidential candidates to participate in elections and campaigns requires a number of campaign funds. Juridically, campaign funds are a number of costs in the form of money, goods, and services used by election participants to finance campaign activities.
The sources of campaign funds come from the state budget, the candidate pairs concerned, political parties and/or a coalition of political parties that propose candidate pairs, and legitimate donations according to the law from other parties.
Legitimate donations from other parties include, among others, individuals and non-governmental business entities. Do these "other parties" include foreign parties?
Please read the review below for a further explanation.
This article is an update of the article entitled Can a Presidential Candidate Receive Campaign Funds from Foreign Parties? which was written by Sovia Hasanah, S.H. and first published on Monday, 17 September 2018.
All legal information available on Klinik hukumonline.com has been prepared for educational purposes only and is general in nature (read the complete Disclaimer). In order to obtain legal advice specific to your case, please consult with Justika Partner Consultant.
Source of Campaign Funds
Before answering your question, it is necessary to know first that a campaign is an activity of election participants or other parties appointed by election participants to convince voters by offering the vision, mission, program, and/or self-image of election participants.[1]
The purpose of the election campaign is as a public political education that is carried out responsibly.[2] The election campaign can be carried out through:[3]
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limited meetings;
face-to-face meetings;
distribution of election campaign materials to the public;
installation of props in public places;
social media;
advertisements in print mass media, electronic mass media, and the internet;
public meetings;
candidate pair debates on candidate pair campaign materials; and
other activities that do not violate the prohibition of election campaigns and the provisions of laws and regulations.
To fund the campaign, of course, requires a number of costs referred to as campaign funds. In Article 1 number 20 General Election Commission Regulation 18/2023, campaign funds are a number of costs in the form of money, goods, and services used by election participants to finance campaign activities.
Then, what are the sources of campaign funds? Sources of campaign funds for presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates can be obtained from:[4]
the state budget;
the candidate pair concerned;
the political party and/or coalition of political parties proposing the candidate pair; and
legitimate donations from other parties.
Sources of campaign funds for the installation of props in public, print, electronic, and internet mass media advertisements, as well as candidate pair debates on campaign materials can be funded by the state budget.[5]
Meanwhile, campaign funds originating from other parties in the form of lawful and non-binding donations can come from individuals, groups, companies, and/or non-governmental business entities. It should be noted that "lawful donations" are donations that are not derived from criminal offenses.[6]
Campaign Fund Report
Then, who are the campaign funds reported to? The answer is to the General Election Commission (in Bahasa Indonesia known as Komisi Pemilihan Umum/"KPU").
The presidential/vice presidential election campaign fund report consists of an initial campaign fund report, a campaign fund donor report, and a campaign fund receipt and expenditure report.[7]
The presidential/vice presidential campaign fund report contains financial information in the form of all revenue and/or expenditure transactions used by candidate pairs and campaign teams to finance campaign activities.[8]
For information, individuals, groups, companies, and/or non-governmental business entities that contribute campaign funds must report the donations to the General Election Commission through the candidate pairs and the national-level campaign team, as outlined in the campaign fund donor report.[9]
After the campaign funds are reported by the presidential/vice presidential candidate pair, an audit of the campaign finance report will then be carried out by a public accounting firm appointed by the General Election Commission.[10]
Maximum Limit of Campaign Fund Donations
So, what is the maximum campaign fund?
Campaign funds originating from individuals may not exceed IDR 2.5 billion.[11]
Campaign funds originating from groups, companies, or non-governmental business entities may not exceed IDR 25 billion.[12]
Campaign funds originating from political parties that are not proposing presidential/vice-presidential pairs have a maximum of IDR 25 billion.[13]
Presidential/vice presidential pairs that receive campaign fund donations in excess of the maximum amount are prohibited from using excess campaign funds, must report to the General Election Commission, and submit the donations to the state treasury a maximum of 14 days after the campaign period ends.[14]
Can Election Participants Receive Campaign Funds from Foreign Parties?
Answering your question about donations of presidential / vice presidential campaign funds from foreign parties, you need to know that election participants, campaign executors, and campaign teams are prohibited from receiving donations of election campaign funds originating from:[15]
foreign parties;
donors whose identity is unclear;
the results of a criminal offense that has been proven based on a court decision that has obtained permanent legal force and/or aims to hide or disguise the results of a criminal offense;
government, regional government, state-owned enterprises, and regional-owned enterprises; or
foreign companies established abroad and/or in Indonesia whose shares are wholly owned by foreigners;
companies in Indonesia whose majority shares are foreign-owned or whose shares are more than 50% foreign-owned;
foreign non-governmental organizations;
foreign community organizations.
Campaign fund contributions from foreign parties are prohibited from being used and must be reported to the General Election Commission and submitted to the state treasury no later than 14 days after the campaign period ends.[17]
Election participants, campaign executors, and campaign teams who violate and continue to accept or use election campaign fund donations from these parties may be subject to sanctions according to the General Election Law.[18] What are the sanctions?
Sanctions for Receiving Campaign Funds from Foreign Parties
Election participants (presidential/vice presidential candidates) who are proven to have received donations of election campaign funds from prohibited parties, including foreign parties, can be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 3 years and a maximum fine of IDR 36 million.[19]
Then, election participants who use donations and do not report to the General Election Commission and/or do not deposit into the state treasury shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 4 years and a fine of 3 times the amount of donations received.[20]
In addition, if the executor and campaign team that uses funds from prohibited donations and/or does not report and/or does not deposit into the state treasury according to the specified time limit, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years and a fine of 3 times the amount of donations received.[21]
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These are the answers we can provide, we hope you will find them useful.
