Corruption spotted among councillors<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
City councillors could possibly commit corruption, but not on
\nthe same scale as that which may have been committed by their
\npredecessors, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) hinted on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The assessment was made by Mangara Siahaan during a regional
\nworking meeting organized by the city chapter of PDI-Perjuangan
\nin Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"If, I said if, some of them (councillors) really committed
\ncorruption, it (the amount) is quite small," he said.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of participants in the working meeting responded to
\nthe statement with a burst of laughter and applause.<\/p>\n
Mangara made the comment in the wake of the refusal by many
\ncity councillors, including those of his party, to submit their
\nwealth reports to the State Officials' Wealth Audit Commission
\n(KPKPN).<\/p>\n
Basically, he said, councillors from the party had no problem
\nwith submitting their wealth reports, which they received about
\nsix months ago. However, they had reached an agreement with other
\ncouncillors that it would be done after KPKPN had set up its city
\nchapter (KPKPD).<\/p>\n
He said that the KPKPN should have first asked former
\nofficials, instead of the current officials, to report their
\nwealth because corruption in the past was more rampant.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the party's
\nchairwoman, ordered the party's councillors last month to submit
\ntheir wealth reports to KPKPN.<\/p>\n
Councillors from the United Development Party and the National
\nMandate Party submitted their reports earlier, following public
\ncriticism on the issue.<\/p>\n
Many others refused, saying that Law No. 28 on the KPKPN did
\nnot specify councillors as public servants.<\/p>\n
They argued that the law should be revised first, and if they
\nwere deemed to be public servants, they should also obtain
\nbenefits such as retirement fees.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/corruption-spotted-among-councillors-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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