No time to fight graft<\/p>\n
To many Indonesians, next week's general election deserves
\nunrelenting national attention, with all other problems
\nconsidered insignificant in comparison.<\/p>\n
Perhaps this also is the belief of high-ranking state
\nprosecutors at the Attorney General's Office. The dismissive way
\nthe newly appointed deputy attorney general for special crimes
\nand one of the directors of the Attorney General's Office treated
\nan anticorruption activist on Monday indicates they are either
\nbusy with the national polls or merely displaying their
\nindifference to the problem of corruption.<\/p>\n
Wardah Hafidz came to see them to submit her findings about
\nalleged misuse of public funds involving two parties contesting
\nthe polls. Unfortunately, the two officials were nowhere to be
\nfound despite having promised to meet her.<\/p>\n
Reacting to what many might consider an outright snub, Wardah
\nsaid: "This demonstrates the Attorney General's Office is not
\nresponsive or ready to receive data from the public." The
\nfearless chairwoman of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), who was
\naccompanied by her lawyers, was ready to present findings of
\nalleged abuse of US$800 million in social safety net funds by the
\nruling Golkar Party and the People's Sovereignty Party (PDR). She
\nalleges the parties misused the funds -- designed to help out
\nthis country's swelling ranks of the needy -- for their election
\ncampaigns and of distributing the money in their parties' name.<\/p>\n
It is noteworthy that Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung has
\npromised to investigate Wardah's allegations although he did not
\nname a date. At least his statement was better than PDR's
\nobstinate reaction of accusing Wardah of waging an ideological
\nand political war of vengeance.<\/p>\n
PDR also accused her of accepting $40,000 in bribes from the
\nWorld Bank, a charge which it has yet to prove. When the party
\nthreatened to sue her for slander, the courageous Wardah replied:
\n"Go ahead, sir, but it would be suicide for your party."<\/p>\n
PDR's threats appear to be more bravado than bravery. As
\nWardah confirmed in her interview with DeTAK magazine this week,
\nPDR last week offered a peaceful settlement to the matter, which
\nshe flatly turned down. She is refusing to abandon her cause
\ndespite threatening phone calls and harassment of her witnesses
\nto withdraw their testimony.<\/p>\n
Disappointed but unbowed by her unpleasant experience at the
\nAttorney General's Office, Wardah then proceeded to the Election
\nSupervisory Committee in another part of the city to submit the
\nfindings. She met with committee member Dadang Hawari, who
\npromised to probe the allegations.<\/p>\n
If found to be true, the corruption ranks not only as a
\ngrievous breach of the people's trust, but also a violation of
\nthe law on general elections. Choosing to think positively, we
\npresume the attorney general for special crimes bore no malice
\nwhen he decided not to meet Wardah. Perhaps he believed her
\nfindings are of no relevance to his tasks and do not fall into
\nthe category of special crimes.<\/p>\n
Yet the public also is confused by what is defined as a
\nspecial crime by the Attorney General's Office, already a
\nlaughing-stock through its farcical handling of the probe into
\nformer president Soeharto's allegedly ill-gotten wealth. Some
\nmight say that Wardah should have realized that the deputy
\nattorney general office's operates under an undeclared motto:
\n"Anticorruption fighters are not welcome because no crime is
\nspecial in Indonesia today."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-time-to-fight-graft-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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