Mr. Clean's crusade<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Society for Transparency, which was launched
\nhere early this week, is not organizationally related to the
\nwell-known Transparency International, the Berlin-based
\nanticorruption pressure group. But the society's mission and its
\nwork methods, as stated in its founding charter, will be very
\nsimilar to the noble crusade which has been conducted since 1993
\nby Transparency International, well-known for its annual
\ncorruption score table of 53 countries.<\/p>\n
It is hardly necessary to detail the background developments
\nthat motivated the 32 senior citizens -- including former and
\nincumbent cabinet ministers, businesspeople, lawyers, economists,
\nsenior journalists, clergymen, human-rights activists and a
\nthree-star Army general -- to found the society.<\/p>\n
Even now, more than two months after the opening of a
\nPandora's box of the abuses of power under Soeharto's 32-year
\nauthoritarian rule, we are still stunned to find how Soeharto,
\nhis family and cronies had massively plundered the nation's and
\nstate's wealth.<\/p>\n
Society is quite right in its thinking that fighting
\ncorruption is by itself not enough for the right, overall cure
\nfor the social and political diseases left behind by the Soeharto
\nregime. An independent organization that is open to all citizens
\nand which is concerned about the future of the nation is needed
\nto organize a nationwide campaign to educate people on the
\nimportance of public transparency and accountability both in
\nstate affairs and in society, including the business world.<\/p>\n
Former minister of finance Mar'ie Muhammad, respectably known
\nas Mr. Clean, who was elected the first chairman of the society,
\nshould be all too familiar with how many of the decision-making
\nprocesses under the Soeharto administration were made secretly
\nand dishonestly for private gains.<\/p>\n
But the society, locally called Masyarakat Transparansi
\nIndonesia (MTI), is different from the political pressure groups
\nset up over the past few weeks which make the political
\nmonitoring of the Habibie administration their main mission.
\nMTI's mission also is much broader and its organization is better
\nstructured than the Indonesian Corruption Watch which focuses its
\nattention on the recovery of assets perceived to be have been
\nillegally obtained by Soeharto and his family.<\/p>\n
MTI will undertake research, workshops, case studies to
\nformulate and implement the broad concept of transparency in the
\nfields of law, economy, defense, security, social and cultural
\naffairs. It will thus emphasize the need for the development of a
\nsystem of national integrity.<\/p>\n
It will closely monitor how public policies are processed and
\nimplemented and launch well-organized campaigns to make
\ncorruption and other forms of abuses of power a public issue
\nthrough mass media in order to exert public pressure on the
\ngovernment and society to act against corruption.<\/p>\n
Corruption has now become so global an issue that even such
\nmultilateral agencies as the World Bank and International
\nMonetary Fund, which previously treated graft as an internal
\npolitical problem of a state outside their purview, have
\ndeveloped a systematic framework for combating corruption in the
\ncountries under their aid programs. Twenty-nine developed
\ncountries grouped in the Organization for Economic Cooperation
\nand Development will enforce later this year the Convention on
\nCombating Corruption of Foreign Officials in International
\nBusiness Transactions they adopted in Paris late last year.<\/p>\n
The worldwide campaign has been prompted by the findings of
\nnumerous empirical studies that corruption cripples development
\nby undermining the rule of law and weakening the institutional
\nfoundations on which economic growth depends.<\/p>\n
Given the magnitude and urgency of the problem of corruption
\nin the country, and in view of the fact that corruption often
\ntakes place in international business, it is highly advisable
\nthat MTI immediately start networking with international
\norganizations and pressure groups already well experienced in the
\ncampaign against corruption. Starting alone from scratch will not
\nenable MTI to gain the public attention that is badly needed to
\njump-start the momentum for its crusade.<\/p>\n
A partnership with Transparency International, for example,
\nwould enable MTI to accelerate its start-up operations by
\nlearning from the case studies, experiences, work references and
\npilot projects already developed by the Berlin-based lobby group
\nand its national chapters in more than 72 countries.<\/p>\n
All in all, though, MTI cannot by itself fully accomplish its
\nmission. The campaign against corruption should be undertaken as
\nan endless education process. It is a multifaceted drive to
\ndevelop a culture of high moral and ethical standards both in
\ngovernment and society, including the business community. This
\nnoble crusade actually is only part of grander things like
\ndemocracy, free press and open market economy.<\/p>",
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