On clean governance<\/p>\n
While making every effort to reestablish public and
\ninternational trust in the government to climb out of our
\ndevastating economic crisis, state officials must also pay
\nattention to increasing public demands for clean governance. This
\ncall is no less urgent than other public complaints because
\ncorruption, which has long reached alarming proportions, has also
\nworsened the ever-widening social gap.<\/p>\n
In an apparent effort to assuage the public, President
\nSoeharto instructed all cabinet ministers Tuesday to report to
\nhim their personal wealth and that of their spouses. Provincial
\ngovernors are obliged to report their wealth as well. The
\ncoordinating minister for development supervision and state
\nadministrative reform will hold all of the personal asset
\nreports.<\/p>\n
The President seems to have no intention of making the wealth
\nof his high-ranking officials public, possibly for reasons of
\nprivacy. But the government has guaranteed that in case a
\nminister is charged with corruption, authorities can reference
\nthe minister's registered personal assets.<\/p>\n
At the same meeting, the President also ordered the ministers
\nto donate their first year's salaries to poverty-alleviation
\nprograms. Many people have expressed sympathy for the ministers
\nsaying the officials will have to live modestly if obliged to
\ndonate their entire salaries. But people who have watched TV
\ninterviews with the newly installed ministers in their luxury
\nhomes tend to conclude that the ministers' lifestyles will not be
\noverly affected because they already live affluently.<\/p>\n
So we believe the focus should be placed on the presidential
\ninstruction for ministers to report their personal assets. This
\norder is, in fact, nothing new in the history of our republic.
\nThere have been such regulations before on top of periodical
\nanti-graft campaigns bearing various grandiose code names.
\nUnfortunately, the effectiveness of these past regulations and
\ncampaigns have impressed few people.<\/p>\n
Indonesians have become quite well-informed of anti-graft
\ndrives in some other developing countries, where officials'
\nassets are publicly announced giving the people a sense of
\nownership in the fight to clean up their government. Authorities
\nin some of these countries also work on public tips concerning
\ncorrupt practices.<\/p>\n
Indonesians have a right to be involved in the fight against
\ncorruption because unethical practices by state officials are
\nnothing less than a breach of the people's trust.<\/p>\n
Corrupt officials here seem to enrich themselves with
\nimpunity, making no effort to hide their illegal practices. Many
\nactually flaunt their ill-gotten affluence. These officials seem
\nto think that they are just a small segment in a vicious cycle
\nwhich has become a part of our national culture.<\/p>\n
Many reports place our government as the most corrupt in Asia,
\nwhile the foreign media has repeatedly printed figures on the
\nhuge wealth of certain high-ranking officials and their cronies
\nhere. The authorities have never denied the charges in a
\nconvincing manner, much less sue the media companies. Instead,
\nthe government repeatedly defends itself with the same old
\ncliche, saying that this country has strong judicial mechanisms
\nto fight corruption.<\/p>\n
The statement, of course, bears some truth. We do have
\ncomprehensive laws to combat corruption. But while building a
\nsystem is one thing, enforcing it is another. The government
\nneeds to focus on creating more effective ways to enforce the
\nsystem. So far, even the government's internal audit agency has
\nrepeatedly complained that many ministries have been reluctant to
\nfollow up on corruption findings with necessary actions. In the
\nend, all of this will depend on the government's political will.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-clean-governance-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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