A tough task ahead<\/p>\n
Even though only on a caretaker basis -- at least for the time
\nbeing -- the government's decision to replace scandal-riddled
\nAttorney General Andi M. Ghalib with his deputy Ismudjoko
\nprovides President B.J. Habibie an excellent opportunity to begin
\ncleaning up the Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
No doubt, this was also on the minds of some of the country's
\nmost prominent former attorneys, who on Thursday visited the
\nAttorney General's Office to call for tougher measures to be
\ntaken against Ghalib and to express their concern over the
\ntarnished image of the country's highest law-enforcement
\ninstitution. As a bulwark of justice, the Attorney General's
\nOffice must be run by clean and competent people, as former
\nattorney general Soegih Arto said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
There is no denying the validity of Soegih's statement. The
\nsad truth is, however, that over the past 30 years of the New
\nOrder regime, the Attorney General's Office never enjoyed a
\nreputation for impartiality, fairness and justice among the
\npublic. However, this unfortunate image had more to do with the
\njudiciary's political dependence on the executive branch rather
\nthan dishonesty on the part of its personnel.<\/p>\n
In any case, never in the history of this powerful institution
\nhas the public reputation of the Attorney General's Office been
\nas low as it is now. How this office plunged into the depths of
\ndisrepute is well-known by now. The Indonesian Corruption Watch
\nreleased copies of bank transfers amounting to billions of rupiah
\nto the personal account of Andi M. Ghalib, making it seem for all
\nthe world that the attorney general was abusing his office for
\npersonal gain.<\/p>\n
Though Ghalib has maintained the transfers were donations from
\nbusinesspeople to the Indonesian Wrestling Association, which he
\nchairs -- a claim which has been corroborated by a number of the
\nsports officials concerned -- the fact is that these claimed
\ndonations were in Ghalib's personal account. Moreover, some of
\nthe money came from two businessmen who not long ago had been
\nquestioned by Ghalib's office for possible violations of banking
\nlaws. Both of these businessmen's cases have apparently been
\n\"forgotten\", even though similar cases are being pursued. To
\nfurther fuel the suspicions of malfeasance, the concerned
\nbusinessmen owe huge debts to the state.<\/p>\n
Amid all this, President Habibie, who has the power to appoint
\nand fire attorney generals, appeared reluctant to dismiss or even
\nsuspend Andi M. Ghalib from office. Habibie took the step of
\nsuspending Ghalib only after pressure for him to take action
\nmounted. However, instead of abiding by the law and replacing
\nGhalib with one of his deputies, the President announced
\nCoordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen.
\n(ret) Feisal Tanjung would replace Ghalib, causing further public
\noutcry.<\/p>\n
While public accountants have been assigned to audit Ghalib's
\nbank accounts, both experts and the public remain skeptical about
\nthe seriousness with which these corruption charges are being
\ntaken, particularly in light of the fact that the government has
\nfailed to assign specialized fraud auditors to the investigation.
\nFurthermore, Bank Indonesia will not open Ghalib's bank accounts
\nto auditors unless police formally name him a suspect in the
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
What this whole sorry affair has exposed is the gigantic task
\nconfronting the next administration before it can even begin to
\nthink of restructuring the social, economic and legal
\nfoundations on which Indonesia's new civil society must be built.
\nTo achieve this, the presence of a clean, fair, impartial and
\nindependent judiciary is an absolute requirement. It is
\nunfortunate that instead of doing what it could to move this long
\nprocess forward during the short time it had at its disposal, the
\nHabibie administration has made the task that much more
\ndifficult.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-tough-task-ahead-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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