JP\/6\/AGAM<\/p>\n
Partnership to fight corruption: Reflection for CSOs<\/p>\n
Agam Fatchurrochman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The West Sumatra District Court in the middle of last month
\nmarked an important milestone in law enforcement regarding the
\ncorruption that has mushroomed in this new era of regional
\nautonomy. The case involved 43 provincial legislators who were
\ntried and convicted of corruption for abusing their power for
\npersonal gain.<\/p>\n
The fact this unacceptable behavior has been both exposed,
\nprocessed through due legal channels and -- most importantly --
\nhas led to a conviction, should be a source of hope to the
\ncorruption-weary public. It should also serve as a strong warning
\nto other public officials that the \"cost\" of corruption in
\nIndonesia is increasingly high.<\/p>\n
Although we have more press freedom and civil society has
\nevolved as the main advocate for democracy, corruption is more
\npervasive than ever. Corrupt legislators or \"rotten politicians\"
\nare the result of this new power and are found in all places.
\nCorruption in the new decentralized bureaucracy is continuing the
\nold tradition, while the judiciary is running without proper
\nsupervision and control.<\/p>\n
Although some integrity assurance institutions have now been
\nintroduced -- notably the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) and
\nthe long-awaited Judicial Commission -- non-governmental civil
\nsociety organizations (CSOs) remain the backbone of the
\nanticorruption movement.<\/p>\n
Since corruption has spread into the regions partly as a
\nresult of the decentralization of power to local administrations,
\ndecentralized corruption and multi-stakeholder corruption, CSOs
\nshould consider a new approach and improve their relations with
\nthe state and business sectors. Anticorruption movements should
\nextend their traditional strategy, moving from street action to a
\nmore constructive arena.<\/p>\n
CSOs should use a two-pronged strategy -- by reforming key
\ninstitutions and creating a stronger demand for reform. The first
\nstrategy is seen by many CSOs as controversial and is often
\nlabeled as a developmentalist approach. However this reform
\nshould be done delicately -- CSOs should assist the state sector
\nin reforming while at the same time maintaining their
\nindependence and integrity.<\/p>\n
There are a growing number of CSOs now working together with
\nstate institutions. Transparency International Indonesia and the
\nPartnership are now working together with several kabupaten
\n(district) governments in combating corruption.<\/p>\n
The Indonesia Corruption Watch is also assisting the Ministry
\nof Forestry in restructuring its HPH (concession) allocation. By
\nstarting with a small-scale project and working with committed
\nstate institutions it will lead to the establishment of an island
\nof integrity in this sea of dishonesty.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, we can learn from the West Sumatra case on how
\ncivil society with its many faces can successfully forge a
\npartnership with state institutions to fight corruption.<\/p>\n
It began with a report filed by Forum Peduli Sumatra Barat
\n(FPSB) to the office of the Padang District Attorney regarding
\ncorruption allegedly committed by provincial and local
\nlegislators. This is a forum whose membership comprises civil
\nsociety organizations and community groups and is coordinated by
\nSaldi Isra, a lecturer at the Andalas University in Padang.<\/p>\n
Different from other CSOs, the FPSB drew up a strategy whereby
\nit was involved at the community level and at the same time
\nengaged with law enforcement institutions to assist in
\ninvestigations.<\/p>\n
This was done by the Center for Legal Research of the
\nUniversity of Andalas (PKH Unand) headed by its Executive
\nDirector Saldi Isra, who in cooperation with the Partnership
\njointly organized a program entitled Developing an Ideal
\nCoordinated System and Optimized Functioning of Legal
\nInstitutions in West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The program was preceded by a workshop to discuss various
\nproblems involving coordination among law enforcement agencies in
\nWest Sumatra. The workshop resulted in an agreement among law
\nenforcement institutions, including the state police,
\nprosecutors, judiciary, and lawyers, to work closer together with
\nPKH Unand on combating corruption.<\/p>\n
A major result emanating from the workshop is the intensive
\nassistance provided by the PKH Unand team to the Padang District
\nAttorney in drawing up the prosecution strategy for the
\ncorruption cases in the Provincial legislative council (DPRD-I),
\nas filed by the Forum Peduli Sumatra Barat (FPSB).<\/p>\n
The Unand assistance team also actively provided input to the
\npanel of judges so that their legal considerations would meet the
\npeople's sense of justice, with a full consideration of judicial
\nindependence.<\/p>\n
This corruption case was the first whereby a large number of
\nprovincial legislators were successfully convicted in a court of
\nlaw and has now become a precedent to be emulated by District
\nAttorneys throughout Indonesia.<\/p>\n
From this accomplishment, it can be concluded that a
\nsuccessful corruption reform should employ a partnership
\nstrategy. Using this strategy, anticorruption activists can
\nactively arrange, help implement and monitor the rules of the
\ngame in the state sector, while at the same time empower the
\npublic at large.<\/p>\n
The writer is the program manager of the Partnership for
\nGovernance Reform group in Indonesia.<\/p>",
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