Anti-Graft Czar: Will Take Up To 20 Yrs To Clean Up Indonesia

Horsefeathers. Azhar's predecessor Taufiequrachman Ruki a few years ago admitted to Newsweek that it was unwise to go after the biggest fish. See final par below:

'Worry and Sacrifice'
Newsweek, August 2005 by Joe Cochrane
Taufiequrachman Ruki suffers for his job. The self-effacing 59-year-old is Indonesia's corruption czar, charged with weeding out graft in one of the world's most corrupt countries. A former police general, Ruki must not only investigate and prosecute the many unethical businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats in Indonesia, but also turn down the many gifts they constantly offer him to look the other way - cars, houses, luxury goods. It's stressful, to say the least. "This isn't a job," he told NEWSWEEK. "It's a sacrifice."

Indonesia has shed its authoritarian legacy and is now the world's fourth largest emerging democracy. But the transition has been rocky. Thousands died in sectarian and ethnic violence after strongman ruler Suharto was toppled in 1998. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is struggling to maintain social order while simultaneously trying to woo back much-needed foreign investment to create jobs for tens of millions of unemployed people. Corruption is arguably the country's biggest problem - siphoning billions of dollars from productive enterprises. In its latest corruption-perception index, Transparency International ranks Indonesia tied for 133rd out of 145 countries. In the past 15 months, voters have directly elected new local mayors, district chiefs and members of Parliament - and virtually all have vowed to fight graft. But skeptics say most of the election winners merely pay lip service to the issue and would rather maintain the status quo. "They're part of the problem," says H. S. Dillon, executive director of the U.N.-funded Partnership for Governance Reforms in Indonesia.

That makes Ruki's role crucial. In 2003, President Megawati Sukarnoputri appointed him as chairman of the newly formed Corruption Eradication Commission - even as some officials in her government were thought to be stealing money from the country. When Yudhoyono won the presidency last September, he vowed to ruthlessly attack state-sponsored graft. Yudhoyono, better known by his initials SBY, chairs his own anticorruption panel that oversees investigations and prosecutions by the attorney general's office. But critics say the latter has historically bumbled cases in exchange for white envelopes stuffed with cash. Ruki's commission is an independent agency that can only be dissolved by law. It handles big-ticket corruption cases, though it can take over any investigation or prosecution if it appears the matter is being swept under the rug. Like Yudhoyono, Ruki considers graft the country's top scourge. "I think more progressive and systematic steps must be taken, [such as demanding] more accountability of the leaders of state-owned companies," he says.

Ruki's staff of 42 investigators, auditors and prosecutors is currently handling corruption cases involving a former cabinet minister, officials from a major state-run bank and members of the National Election Commission. One of the election-commission members is on trial now. The office has an annual budget of $40 million, but the caseload is heavy, and Ruki says more money and investigatory manpower are needed. As the cases pile up, the group is being stretched physically and mentally. "I suffer from anxiety and depression," Ruki says. "I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if I'm going the wrong way on a case, or worrying that I can't find enough evidence."

The commission has one big victory so far. The former governor of Aceh province, Abdullah Puteh, was convicted of graft in April and sentenced to 10 years in jail. By pursuing high-profile officials, the government hopes the message will trickle down to public officials at lower levels. "People do think twice now," says former attorney general Marzuki Darusman. "If this continues and is sustained, we might be seeing the beginnings of a turnaround." One foreign shipping executive, who asked for anonymity because his company has been dunned for bribes in the past by Indonesian officials, says that the firm no longer has to pay "facilitation fees" to move cargo in and out of the Jakarta port. Expats report they now have to actually take a driving test to get a license, rather than paying a few dollars to "agents" hovering outside the motor-vehicles office.

Despite those encouraging signs, no one expects graft in Indonesia to disappear any time soon. The problem is too deeply ingrained in the culture. Shady politicians and businessmen have deep pockets and vast influence, especially within the country's notoriously corrupt courts. "You offer a judge making $300 a month $30,000 to make a favorable ruling, what do you think he's going to do?" asks one Jakarta-based attorney. Anticorruption groups howled in May when the attorney general's office dropped investigations into two companies linked to Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Economic Minister Aburizal Bakrie. Both officials assert that the companies did nothing wrong. Ruki admits that law enforcement in Indonesia "can never be totally [isolated] from political interference," adding: "We go after the big fish, but if the fish is too big, my commission could sink." With that, the harried public servant issues a deep sigh, shakes his head and goes back to work.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.