Foreign consultants could help fight corruption<\/p>\n
Ziad Salim, Contributor, Mataram, NTB<\/p>\n
Indonesia, under the reign of Soeharto, was often described as
\n\"kleptocracy\", meaning, a system of government where stealing
\n(of public money) was common. The \"alleged\" thieves ranged from
\nagents of the government to various business groups known
\ncollectively as \"conglomerates\" or cronies of those in the
\ngovernment. Even former president B.J. Habibie recently noted
\n(and he should know) that stealing was rampant but only in or
\nthrough one channel, i.e., the government (executive branch).<\/p>\n
Now, according to Habibie, the stealing is being done through
\nmultiple channels. The average man on the street even knows that
\nall too well.<\/p>\n
Now, they say, stealing is also done by another branch, with
\nnew-found political muscle resulting from the collapse of the
\nexecutive power under Soeharto, combined with the side effects of
\npolitical reform, as well as at the regional level since greater
\nautonomy has been given to leaders outside of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Of course, in addition to these two newly kleptocratic groups,
\npeople in the third branch of government have been known to be
\nbusy receiving bribes, kickbacks and other forms of under-the-
\ntable payments -- thereby often letting the guilty go free or
\nreducing the sentences of those found guilty.<\/p>\n
These phenomena make Indonesia eligible for a membership in a
\nnew type of government called \"corruptocracy\". In other words, it
\nhas finally \"graduated\" to a \"higher\" level of \"-cracy\": From
\n\"kleptocracy\" to \"corruptocracy\", a system where the engine of
\ngovernment is oiled almost entirely by corruption at nearly every
\nlevels through illegal fees, bribes, kickbacks and stealing of
\npublic funds of every kind. In some ways we associate a
\nkleptocracy with a system where stealing is done by a few, but
\nwhen it is done by so many at every level, it seems appropriate
\nto refer to it as a corruptocracy.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, in this corruptocracy, those who seek public
\noffice do so not necessarily to serve the public, but purely as a
\nmeans to line their own pockets. They are unashamed of the
\npractice (even though most are religious people who believe in
\nGod and His principles against stealing) because many also
\nmistakenly believe that they are entitled by some divine right to
\nsuch positions.<\/p>\n
Every transaction facilitated by these people costs money that
\nseldom ends up in the government coffers; you can literally buy
\nyourself in or out of anything (X amount of rupiah for this
\nposition and y amount to get out of that jam); the judicial
\nsystem is formally open, but operates in parallel with a
\nbargaining system where a jail sentence can be averted, a long
\none shortened and, as one example makes clear a hundred dollars
\nwas enough to set a mega corruptor free from his prison cell, and
\nhe has not been found since.<\/p>\n
Even though there was the recent creation of the KPK
\n(Corruption Eradication Commission), no one seriously believes
\nthat corruption will be eliminated in Indonesia any time soon.<\/p>\n
So what to do?<\/p>\n
If the enemy is \"us\", then to seriously tackle the problem of
\ncorruption, bring \"them\" in to help! But, who is \"them?\" People
\nwho are not corrupt and do not come from a place where corruption
\nis a key facet of the culture. (Remember when Soeharto wanted to
\ncrack down on rampant corruption in the Customs and Excise
\noffices, he brought in the Swiss surveyor company, Societe
\nGenerale de Surveillance or SGS, and it worked, at least for a
\nwhile). This is what Indonesia should do with corruption: Hire
\nforeign consultants, protect them under the law, put them in the
\ncorruption watch agency and give them teeth.<\/p>\n
It is ironic that just an hour from Jakarta (the capital of
\nthe world's biggest corruptocracy) lies Singapore, which ranks in
\nthe top five as the least corrupt system in the world (and it
\nwasn't so a mere 40 years ago). One of its most celebrated
\n(notorious?) approaches to eliminating public nuisances (from gum
\nchewing to graffiti and other petty crimes) consist of fines and
\npublic humiliation.<\/p>\n
To fight corruption, Singapore also equalizes the public and
\nprivate pay scale and the full force of the law is brought to
\nbear on all corruptors. Unfortunately, none of the above would
\nwork in Indonesia: In this country, the biggest corruptors have
\nalways been the richest and high government officials, in other
\nwords, those that no most would think no longer need more money.<\/p>\n
One ingredient that has been missing in the fight against
\ncorruption in Indonesia is leadership or a leader, one
\nincorruptible leader, a la Lee Kwan Yew, if you wish, who focused
\non that blight, fought it and changed the culture of his people
\nin the process (proving that a nasty little bit of culture can be
\nchanged if a strong leader is determined enough). Indonesia needs
\na leader who is committed to the struggle and has a vision for a
\ncorruption-free country, say in 20 years (or a la Mahathir's \"20-
\n20 vision\" for a developed Malaysia in the year 2020) who can and
\nis willing to hammer this message out each and every day, while
\nat the same time setting a clear example of a modest lifestyle (a
\nla Gandhi?).<\/p>\n
In other words, a leader who is as tough as Lee, as visionary
\nas Mahathir and lives a simple life (alas, no one can live a la
\nGandhi). Since this is too much to ask in Indonesia, even from
\nthe current crop of presidential hopefuls, the fight for a
\ncorruption free Indonesia is indeed still a long, long way off.<\/p>\n
In the mean time, there is one little social theory that has
\nnot been tried which is worth a try as a last resort and was once
\ndone in New York, of all places, a city not known as a squeaky
\nclean city, by a known corruption fighter, Mayor Rudolph
\nGiuliani. Conveniently, he just published his memoir,
\nincidentally, titled Leadership, highlighting the above-mentioned
\nfirst missing ingredient in the fight against corruption in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Tucked somewhere inside its many pages is a precious little
\n\"theory\" used by Giuliani to combat violence in the city called
\nthe \"broken window theory\". The assumption of this theory is that
\nbig crimes come from small and petty crimes and the logic is two-
\nfold: A potential criminal riding into town, seeing all the
\nbroken and unfixed windows due to vandalism will assume no one is
\nwatching and no one cares, hence he (as most crimes are committed
\nby a \"he\") thinks it is easy picking for a crime; seeing such
\nsmall acts of crimes go unnoticed by law enforcement officers, he
\ndecides that bigger crimes will go unnoticed too.<\/p>\n
To reverse the cycle, according to the theory, the law
\nenforcement officers must catch the offenders of even the
\nsmallest infringement (such as one who spits in the street or who
\nwrites graffiti on walls of public buildings, etc). The good
\nmayor claimed that crimes of all kinds dropped dramatically in
\nNew York after the adoption of that \"broken window theory\".<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the theory still begs the question too: Where
\ncan we find the good and honest Indonesian cop to enforce the
\nlaw? You will not find one, so we must bring them in from another
\ncountry. Indonesia could even hire former Mayor Giuliani and\/or
\nsomeone like him as a top consultant to advise the government on
\nhow to apply the theory to the problem of corruption in
\nIndonesia. After all, Indonesia has recently hired a man who
\nfailed to sell himself to the American electorate (former
\npresidential candidate Bob Dole) to lobby for (or \"sell\")
\nIndonesia to the American people and policymakers.<\/p>\n
So why not try to hire someone with a proven record of
\nsuccess. If Indonesia fails to wipe out or even slow down
\ncorruption in the next five years, deep cynicism will set in
\namong everyone, any remaining sense of a community will be gone
\nas everyone will be merely looking out for himself. In turn, the
\ninternational (business and other) communities will lose any last
\nbit of confidence and trust they have in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The writer served with several international development
\norganizations but is now retired. He holds a Ph. D. in social
\nscience from North America.<\/p>",
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