Acceptance of corruption may foil drive<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Without intending to dampen the spirit of anticorruption
\ncrusaders and their fight against crooked politicians, a noted
\nlawyer asserted that the campaign not to vote for those figures
\nwill likely have little impact.<\/p>\n
\"(The campaign) is a positive thing, but it'll probably have
\nlittle effect due to the culture of permissiveness toward
\ncorruption and ambivalence about it in our society,\" Todung Mulya
\nLubis told a seminar titled \"Corruption and 'Black' Politicians\"
\nheld by the Center for Social Economic Studies (CSES) on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
He explained that such permissiveness was shown in the
\nrespectful treatment given to corruptors and the low number of
\ncorruption cases brought to courts.<\/p>\n
\"Only here in our country a convicted corruptor who is still
\non parole can chair the Indonesian Athletics Association,\" said
\nTodung, referring to Bob Hasan who was released last month after
\nserving two-thirds of his six-year sentence for misusing state
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
\"The campaign's anticlimax was when Akbar's appeal was granted
\nby the Supreme Court. So don't be surprised if many crooked
\npoliticians, listed or not, are still elected or reelected,\"
\nTodung added.<\/p>\n
Several non-governmental organizations, led by Indonesian
\nCorruption Watch (ICW), have appealed to the public not to vote
\nfor unscrupulous politicians. They were supposed to publish a
\nlist of such politicians before the campaign period started to
\nhelp the public make decisions during the upcoming general
\nelections.<\/p>\n
The campaign period started on Thursday and will continue
\nuntil April 1. However, the list still has not materialized since
\nthe organizations said they were still collecting names.<\/p>\n
Todung's comments were fortified by a recent study by CSES
\namong 150 Jakartans, which found that only 26.8 percent of the
\ninterviewed respondents would not vote for crooked politicians
\nalthough over 70 percent of them claimed that they supported the
\ncampaign.<\/p>\n
\"Our public is so ambivalent. They know that those politicians
\nare unscrupulous but yet will still vote for them,\" he lamented.<\/p>\n
He also said that it would take stricter law enforcement to
\ndiminish such permissiveness and the pessimistic attitude within
\nthe society.<\/p>\n
\"Freed corruptors and lenient sentences will only strengthen
\nthe attitude. People won't hesitate to engage in corruption ...
\ntoo many corruption cases and practices of money politics within
\npolitical parties still remain below the surface,\" he asserted.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Todung remained optimistic about the struggle,
\naffirming that \"the campaign is indeed an excellent start of a
\nlong campaign against crooked politicians\".<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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