Activists doubt quality of govt's anticorruption efforts

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Antigraft campaigners questioned on Wednesday the government's commitment to corruption eradication, which President Megawati Soekarnoputri spoke of in her national address on Monday.

"Actually, people expect to see the government's success in eradicating corruption in terms of quality, not quantity," said Iskandar Sonhadji, a former member of the now-defunct Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK).

In her remarks, the President acknowledged the government's poor performance in its anticorruption drive despite the existence of a series of legislation and an institution to fight the crime.

However, in apparent defense of her administration, Megawati boasted that the number of corruption cases are increasing, including those involving Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds, handed over to the courts by the Attorney General's Office.

Only one of 19 convicts in the Rp 144.5 trillion (US$15.7 billion) scam has been imprisoned, while the rest have either fled the country or remain at large.

Iskandar said that despite the many corruption cases handled by prosecutors across the country, people only noticed high- profile corruption cases, most of the suspects of which have managed to evade justice.

"The fact that the President has done nothing to the attorney general, who has been reported to the police for alleged corruption, has hurt the people.

"People can't understand either how the Attorney General's Office's has let some high-profile debtors walk free only because they paid back the money they stole. It sets a bad precedent," he told The Jakarta Post.

Separately, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Lucky Djani said the President's remarks would not boost people's trust in the government's efforts to stamp out corruption.

"The government's policies do not reveal a systemic effort to eradicate corruption," he said.

Lucky said the government's praise for its achievements in handling BLBI cases was a mockery.

"People still remember the Attorney General's Office's poor record in dealing with the BLBI scandal, in which most of the suspects evaded justice or got lenient sentences," he said.

The prosecution against high-profile bankers, who were accused of misusing BLBI funds, failed to retrieve the state money.

Lucky also criticized the President for putting the blame on the courts, which do not fall under the government's supervision.

"The government can't wash its hands of the matter. Court cases come from prosecutors and police, which are government apparatus. Lack of evidence or weak indictments due to their poor performance end up with acquittals," he said.

Iskandar suggested that the President order the Attorney General's Office to get tough with alleged corrupters.

"It wouldn't be considered intervening if she told prosecutors what to do when handling corruption cases," he said.