KUPANG – Corruption that erodes people’s welfare is still a major problem in Indonesia. One of the causes is the high cost of politics during elections. As a result, politicians are competing to return capital through corruption while in office. Money politics is certainly the root of the problem. Political parties (parpol) have a vital role to break the chain of money politics that has become rampant.

For this reason, in order to strengthen the integrity of political parties and encourage clean and transparent elections, KEMITRAAN through the INTEGRITAS Program held a Political Party Integrity Training in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on 12-13 September 2024 which was attended by 37 participants. They are administrators of the Regional Leadership Council (DPD) of political parties at the provincial and district / city levels.

This training is part of a long-term effort for public trust in democracy. This program is also a strategic step to ensure that political party leaders have the knowledge to become election participants with integrity.

Through this training, KEMITRAAN also hopes to strengthen the commitment of political parties to adopt a culture of integrity and anti-corruption within their organizations. In addition, the training also aims to increase the knowledge of party officials regarding political ethics, party organization, and electoral winning strategies without money politics. Thus, political parties in Indonesia can become important actors in creating clean elections and quality democracy.

The training will explore the understanding of political ethics, party ideology, funding, and political communication strategies aimed at building public trust. Participants will also gain insight into community political education and how to address and resolve contemporary socio-political issues with an ethical and integrity approach.

INTEGRITAS KEMITRAAN Program Manager, Danardono Siradjudin, in his speech said that it is hoped that political party members can become agents of change who play an important role in creating more credible elections and local elections.

“This will not only strengthen the legitimacy of the election results, but also build public trust in the political system that we run,” said Danardono.

Danardono said that without a strong commitment from political parties to uphold integrity and anti-corruption, it is difficult to create a fair election process that upholds democratic values. Therefore, he invited the training participants to play an active role in encouraging positive changes within their respective parties, as well as contributing to maintaining political and social stability in Indonesia.
After the success of Kupang, similar trainings will be held in several other cities in Indonesia, namely:

  • DKI Jakarta on September 17-18, 2024
  • Medan, North Sumatra on September 19-20, 2024
  • Makassar, South Sulawesi on September 24-25, 2024

The Political Party Integrity Training Program is part of KEMITRAAN’s long-term project to encourage a healthier democracy in Indonesia. Political parties as the spearhead of democracy are expected not only to be participants in elections, but also to be able to mobilize changes that support honest and fair elections.

Through this training, political parties in Indonesia are also expected to increasingly realize the importance of maintaining integrity in their every political step. Thus they can increase public trust in political institutions in Indonesia.

For members of political parties who are interested in participating in this training, registration is still open via the following link: [https://bit.ly/parpolberintegritas]. Participants are expected to register immediately considering the limited quota for each session.