Former Minister Proposes Rp5 Trilion for Political Parties

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Former chief economic minister Rizal Ramli has proposed that the government should set Rp5 trillion in the state budget to finance the operations of political parties in the country.

"I propose that the government should set Rp5 trillion in the state budget, which amounts to Rp1,600 trillion, to help finance their activities," Rizal Ramli said after attending a thank giving of 10 Years of the 'Maarif Institute' here on Friday.

He said that he made the proposal to prevent political parties from committing collective corruption like what they were doing nowadays.

If political parties have received the funding from the state budget, they still committed corruption, they should be disbanded, he said.

Rizal said that the proposal was like what was applied in European countries and Australia. He expressed his concern over the condition in the country which became increasingly chaotic because of rampant corruption cases which involved public officers. He cited as an example the number of 297 regional heads who were jailed for corruption. (M038)