Civil society, businessmen urged to form anticorruption coalition<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Noted scholar Emil Salim urged on Saturday civil society groups
\nand the business community to form an anticorruption alliance to
\nfight against what he called the \"coalition of corrupters\" ahead
\nof elections in 2004 and beyond.<\/p>\n
\"An anticorruption coalition between the civil society and
\nbusiness people must be set up to face this coalition of
\ncorrupters,\" Emil said after receiving the Hamengku Buwono IX
\nAward on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
The University of Gadjah Mada conferred the award upon Emil
\nfor his work in promoting sustainable development in the country.<\/p>\n
Emil, who is also former environment minister, did not spell
\nout all the details that he envisioned for the business-civil
\nsociety alliance, but stressed that people in the academic
\ncommunity had a very significant role to play in fighting against
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
He added that the intelligentsia of this country must take the
\nlead in an active way, while at the same time avoiding the
\ntemptation in this culture to be bought out by the coalition of
\ncorrupters<\/p>\n
\"It is not enough if scholars merely complain and criticize
\nwhat has been happening. Now is the time for scholars to be
\nproactive and be the torchbearers of this new alliance, which can
\nresolve the country's problems,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He, however, warned that a common temptation for scholars in
\nIndonesia, and other parts of Asia, was corruption itself, which
\nof course, would nullify their integrity.<\/p>\n
\"If scholars commit corruption, they have sold their souls and
\ndegraded their morality below even that of an animal. Corrupt
\nscholars also betray their universities that suppor and depend on
\nthem,\" Emil said.<\/p>\n
Therefore, scholars must uphold integrity as well as their
\nuniversity's image from the corruption trap, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The scholars must get actively involved in sustainable
\ndevelopment to lift Indonesia out of its rut to become a more
\nhumane and just place over the next 15 years,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia still ranks among the most corrupt countries in the
\nworld, according to a number of international surveys including
\none from Transparency International (TI).<\/p>\n
Most experts agree that with the 2004 elections fast
\napproaching, there is no doubt that corruption will be even more
\nrampant and more frequent.<\/p>\n
Pre-election money politics will also be widespread in the
\nform of business people funding activities -- in violation of the
\ncampaign contribution limits -- for political parties in the
\nhopes that their \"investment\" would be returned someday.<\/p>\n
Anti-corruption rhetoric ahead of the elections has also been
\nincreasing. The nation's largest Muslim organization, Nadhlatul
\nUlama (NU), which boasts some 40 million members, and the second
\nlargest Muhammadiyah, with around 30 million members, signed a
\nMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October to initiate a
\nnational anticorruption movement.<\/p>\n
Under the three-year MOU, NU and Muhammadiyah agreed to
\ndevelop an Islamic interpretation of anticorruption and publish
\nleadership guidelines to promote good governance.<\/p>\n
The two groups have also embarked on a national campaign of
\nanticorruption, and implemented a modern management system at
\ntheir own organizations based on the principles of
\naccountability, transparency, integrity, participation and
\njustice, which it is hoped can serve as model for good
\ngovernance.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Indonesian Chamber of Trade and Industry (KADIN)
\nalso vowed to fight corruption within its sphere of influence.<\/p>\n
The Anticorruption Commission (KPK) was formed last week,
\nmarking a milestone in the country's corruption eradication
\nefforts as the commission has been granted wide-ranging authority
\nto investigate and prosecute major corruption cases.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, all of the these efforts and tough talk have
\nseemingly not been endorsed by the major political parties, as
\nonly a couple of smaller parties have expressed a commitment to
\nfight corruption as a key platform.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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