Anticorruption draft law met with criticism
JAKARTA (JP): Government watchdogs pointed out that the Rp 10 million (US$860) limitation on gifts received by state officials stipulated in the latest draft law for corruption cases will only give leeway for more corruption.
Government Watch (Gowa) coordinator Farid R. Faqih said the officials should not receive any gifts, no matter what the value. This is unethical and can not be accepted because it violates the officials' oath, he said.
State officials must take an oath before assuming their posts, pledging not to receive any gifts in the performance of their duties.
"The limitation is probably a trick. The gifts, for example, can actually be worth Rp 100 million, but then divided into smaller parts. How can we control that?" he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Sunday.
Therefore, Farid said, the limitation should be rejected.
Agreeing with Farid, Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets (Gempita) chairman Albert Hasibuan said that the ban on receiving gifts should be strictly regulated.
"I understand that the limitation is based on a realistic assumption that every official receives gifts," he said.
However, he added, in reality it would be difficult to be imposed.
A limitation on the value of gifts for acceptance indicates that the officials may receive gifts valued under Rp 10 million.
"Say, for example, an official is receiving a gift worth Rp 50 million. Then what should he or she do? Return Rp 40 million? These kinds of things should be considered," said Albert, who also chairs the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Criticism of the new regulation follows the latest draft law on shifting the burden of proof in corruption cases.
The draft for the revision of the Anticorruption Law no 31/1999 stipulates that state officials will not be allowed to receive gifts valued at more than Rp 10 million.
It also regulates that state officials must report and surrender any gifts to an anticorruption commission, which will be established in August, no later than 15 days after receiving it. The commission will then transfer the gift to the state.
If the official wants to keep the gift, she or he will have to pay the full value of the gift.
The draft law, however, has yet to be approved and the limitation of Rp 10 million is still being debated.
The draft is part of a campaign against corruption, which includes the recent announcement of the personal wealth of state officials, who are viewed as being susceptible to corruption, collusion and nepotism.
Separately on Monday, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Teten Masduki was more optimistic, saying that the law is aimed at minimizing corruption as much as possible.
In response to Farid's comment that the limitation is only a trick, Teten said that corruptors have many strategies and that they are not gaining wealth from bribes alone.
"But there must be some way to face them. Through the law, they must prove before the court how they amassed their wealth," he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin) chairman Sudjono said that, given the condition of legal institutions here, it would be difficult to implement the law on shifting the burden of proof.
"You can see for yourself, bribery is very common in court. Therefore, no matter how sound a regulation is, it won't work if those implementing it are corrupt," he said. (hdn)