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View all search resultsKPU calls for immediate disbursement of this year’s remaining election funds
Only days before the political parties' registration for the 2024 general election opens, the government has yet to disburse all the necessary election funds to election organizers, prompting concerns that the electoral process would therefore be hindered.
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Officials prepare ballot boxes and other voting materials in Jakarta ahead of the 2019 presidential and legislative elections. (Antara/Bay Ismoyo)
Only days before the political parties’ registration for the 2024 general election opens, the government has yet to disburse all the necessary election funds to election organizers, prompting concerns that the election process would therefore be hindered.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has been calling for an immediate disbursement to the remaining election funds allocated in this year’s state budget. It has so far only received Rp 2.4 trillion (US$160 million) of the total of Rp 8.06 trillion for organizing a series of early stages of the 2024 presidential and legislative elections this year.
“[The government] needs to find ways to accelerate the disbursement immediately,” KPU-commissioner Betty Idroos said. “We hope that there will be policies and actions for this to happen."
The yet-to-be-distributed funds, Betty added, were needed to finance the organizing of election stages this year, including political-party registration and verification which are expected to begin on Aug. 1.
The KPU and policymakers agreed in February to hold the next presidential and legislative elections on Feb. 14, 2024. This marks the first time the country will hold the general election in the same year as its nationwide-regional elections, adding costs and a number of logistical challenges to the process.
In mid-June, the House of Representatives -- dominated by the pro-government parties -- approved a total of Rp 76.6 trillion for the KPU to hold the general election after dragging their feet for months amid the controversial proposal -- allegedly at the behest of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s inner circle -- that the elections be postponed.
The KPU had initially proposed Rp 86 trillion to finance the concurrent elections, which is three times the budget for the 2019 presidential elections. The House and the government, however, refused to approve the budget, saying that the country was still struggling to revive the pandemic-stricken economy.
