Jakarta: Executive Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Khoirunnisa Agustyati cautioned the public not to elect leaders who have been caught in corruption cases. According to her, people who have a background in corruption have the potential to do the same thing in the future.
Khoirunnisa said that leaders who are caught in corruption tend to think about themselves. This will have an impact on the welfare of the region they lead, and exacerbate the poverty rate in the area.
“Of course this is a danger for democracy. Of course the public needs to be aware of whether the act can be repeated, because in some cases it happens,” said Khoirunnisa on Metro TV, Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Corruption, he said, is a recurring pattern. For this reason, the public is asked to be observant in choosing leaders, otherwise the community will be harmed by their own choices.
“This means that he will only benefit himself compared to his community. Therefore, as a society, we need to get candidates for regional heads who have a commitment to eradicating corruption,” he said.
Ideal Leaders are the Responsibility of Political Parties
In addition to the role of society, the role of political parties in this case is also needed. Political parties have a role in attracting candidates who are free from corruption cases, so that people can get ideal leaders.
According to him, leaders who are free from corruption cases are one of the things that need the attention of political parties and the public.
“Now towards the nomination, it is political parties that should be able to screen, political parties have room for regeneration,” he said.
Khoirunnisa explained that in elections it is indeed the community who makes their choices, but long before that political parties present prospective leaders. So that candidates who are free from corruption cases are things that political parties need to pay attention to.
“The process towards someone being nominated, we cannot intervene in political parties, because the realm is exclusively in political parties related to the nomination,” said Khoirunnisa.
If the leader presented has a track record of corruption, said Khoirunnisa, that person has the opportunity to do the same thing in the future. This will have an impact on the policies that are taken, and of course the one who is harmed is the community.
“Well, this is where the public actually needs to get information about who the candidates are, sometimes the condition is that our public is permissive of cases like this, maybe also because there is a systematic effort,” he said.
This article was published on Medcom.id with the title “Perludem: Ex-Corruption Leaders are Dangerous for Democracy”, https://www.medcom.id/pilkada/news-pilkada/ybDY53Zk-perludem-pemimpin-mantan-korupsi-berbahaya-bagi-demokrasi