KPK Commissioner Firli Bahuri reminded regional head candidates to not make promises to third parties or sponsors who have helped them in the campaign process because there will be potential legal problems that the candidates will face.

According to him, the results of the survey regarding conflicts of interest in Pilkada (Regional Elections) conducted by the KPK's Research and Development Directorate showed that 82.3% of the election and campaign costs were sponsored by third parties. "This is selling power, it is corrupt, and they will deal with legal problems," said Firli while speaking at the webinar "Creating Quality Regional Leaders with Honesty and Integrity through Simultaneous Pilkada", today (20/10).

This webinar was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the General Election Commission and was attended by 736 pairs of candidates (paslon) for regional heads in 270 regions participating in the election consisting of 9 provinces, 37 cities and 224 regencies.

Firli said that the KPK has an interest in equipping the regional head candidates. "This is an important agenda in terms of running the government, especially in regional head elections, including carrying out honest elections with integrity," he said.

Especially in the Covid-19 pandemic conditions, Firli said, there is a crucial point at this time because of the budget reallocation for handling the pandemic. Regional heads-especially incumbents, continued Firli, are very susceptible to misusing pandemic funds for their regional elections. "Social safety net funds are most prone to be misused for the interests of individuals in the regional elections."

He added that regional heads have extraordinary powers ranging from formulating the budget allocation to budget distribution, from licensing to commerce in their respective regions. Therefore, he said, KPK seeks to assist the regions in improving the system and preventing corruption through many prevention programs.

 KPK holds a series of activities through the Pilkada with Integrity Program. After the national presentation, the KPK will continue presenting to Pilkada organizers, participants, and voters at the regional level including 9 provinces to disseminate values of integrity ​​in the election process. The first regional presentation will be held in Palangkaraya City on 22 October 2020 for four regions that are holding elections, namely Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, and Banten.

Further information regarding the series of activities from the Pilkada with Integrity Program can be accessed through the following link https://www.kpk.go.id/id/pilkada-berintegritas