ABUNDANT MONEY IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF GETTING ELECTED (A STUDY ON MONEY IN POLITICS DURING 2015 SOUTH KONAWE REGIONAL ELECTION)

Abstract

The object of this research was the simultaneous election of Konsel. Candidates for regional heads' indirect election mechanism must spend extra effort in gaining support and votes. Various ways were carried out to influence voters by giving them money, gifts, souvenirs, road construction, establishing places for religious practices, development in education, health services, and increasing the standard of income to obtain voters’ support. the research took place in South Konawe, a region that was purposively selected based on two considerations. The result of this research showed that some candidates used money in political practices as a strategy to approach the voters in an election, to form a reciprocal relationship between the giver and the recipient. The occurrence of this practice is influenced by the level of social welfare, education level, permissive political regulation, patron-client relationship, individual-based electoral design, and weak legal sanctions. Fortunately, some voters would not sell their votes. In another word, uncertainty occurs as voters might have different perceptions of the money distributed by candidates. The continuous practice of money in politics raises irony in democracy. Election monitoring committees such as Panwaslu should be given stronger authority to prevent the practices from occurring in breeder scope. However, supervisors seem to have resigned with this condition. The originality of this research is on the investigation of money in politics practices in a regional election in Indonesia.