Indonesian Presidential candidates along with their running mates pose for a group photo after delivering their anti-corruption policies during a dialog held by country's anti-graft agency Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at its headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 17, 2024. (Photo:reuters.com) The pledges of candidates Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto, and Ganjar Pranowo were made at an unprecedented meeting held by the KPK in Jakarta on January 17.
At the meeting, Prabowa appreciated the KPK's multifaceted approach to anti-corruption, including initiatives to raise public awareness, preventive measures, and anti-corruption crackdowns. He said that all senior public officials have to declare their finances truthfully, otherwise they will face the risk of being fired.
Meanwhile, Ganjar highlighted the importance of digitising the financial system to monitor transactions as “cash transactions are difficult to track”. The former governor of Central Java province said that e-budgeting, e-planning for transparency in the bureaucracy help to ensure more effective monitoring.
For his part, Anies, former governor of the capital Jakarta, said he will bring Indonesia’s battle against graft back on track by strengthening the KPK and revising the law governing the agency.
Indonesia will hold a general election on February 14, 2024. Nearly 205 million voters out of a total of more than 270 million people are eligible to cast ballots to choose a successor to President Joko Widodo. If none of the three candidates obtains a majority of votes in the first round, a second round will be held in June between the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes./.
