This article is excerpted from a portion of KPK and LIPI's research on "political sector
corruption" in Indonesia. This research concludes that one of the main roots of corruption in Indonesia is a corrupt political system and very corrupt political parties. The authors also find that the majority of major political parties in Indonesia are managed like a family company and controlled by a handful of oligarchs. Therefore, the management of political parties in Indonesia is not transparent and accountable and is not following the principles of democracy
and anti-corruption. This research concluded that all political parties in Indonesia have the following characteristics: (i) they have no accountable and transparent political party
financial management. All political parties are not willing to announce the amount and the
origins of their finances and do not want to report the utilization of their political party funds in detail. (ii) The caderisation process in political parties is not working following the merit system so that many members of political parties are easily jumping from one political party to another. (iii) The implementation and enforcement of the ethical code of conduct in political parties are very little or not at all. As a result, the violations of democratic principles and ethics are considered normal. Therefore, it is not surprising that the quality of politicians
in Indonesia is very low and results in prolonged corrupt practices among elected officials (legislative and executive), because they were born from unprofessional political parties and has many congenital disabilities.
