Lawmaker Highlights Common Corruption Patterns Among Regional Leaders in Indonesia

A member of Indonesia's House of Representatives has drawn attention to the prevalent corruption among regional leaders, identifying common patterns such as "selling positions, issuing permits, and procurement fraud." Muhammad Khozin of the National Awakening Party (PKB) stated that reforms are urgently needed in the systems for appointing officials, issuing permits, and managing procurement.

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The patterns are the selling of positions, the issuance of permits, and procurement corruption.

Khozin emphasized the need for a "design to close the patterns of corruption in the regions" and collaboration with law enforcement agencies for prevention. He believes the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the supervisor of regional governments, must create a governance structure that eliminates opportunities for corruption.

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There must be a design to close the patterns of corruption in the regions, and involve law enforcement agencies to prevent it.

Furthermore, Khozin suggested a fundamental overhaul of regional governance, including redesigning regional elections to reduce the significant financial investment required. He argued that if elected officials are not burdened with repaying political capital, they may be less inclined to engage in corrupt practices. This idea is linked to proposed revisions of the Regional Head Election Law.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs as the supervisor of regional governments must design governance that leaves no room for corruption in the regions.

This discussion comes as nine regional heads have been implicated in corruption cases by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the first half of 2026. Separately, another legislator, Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda, proposed increasing the financial benefits for regional heads, arguing that current compensation is insufficient given the high political costs. He suggested that regional heads and their deputies should ideally receive 20 percent of the regional original revenue, noting that their current salaries are only around 5 to 6 million rupiah.

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Regional head salaries are only around 5 to 6 million rupiah, while the political costs are high.