Antigraft campaign not selling in Muhammadiyah
Antigraft campaign not selling in Muhammadiyah
ID Nugroho
The Jakarta Post/Malang
The joining of forces by Indonesia's two largest Muslim
organizations to boost the national drive against deep-rooted
corruption may only be lip service, according to Muhammadiyah's
intellectuals.
There was no resistance from within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and
Muhammadiyah, but their joint movement to fight corruption has
yet to make any progress, as many of its members stand accused of
involvement in corruption.
The manner in which to combat corruption was a topic of
discussions during the ongoing national congress of the 30-
million strong Muhammadiyah in the city of Malang. The congress
will conclude on Friday.
In his opening statement on Sunday, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono urged Muhammadiyah to help strengthen morality of the
nation in order to assist the antigraft campaign.
The President said that this predominantly Muslim country
should be very embarrassed by the fact that it was still
considered one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
Susilo did not blame Islam for the widespread corruption, but
said some Muslim individuals were to blame for failing to embrace
the spirit of Islamic teaching.
Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif and his NU
counterpart Hasyim Muzadi have signed an agreement to work
together to fight corruption taking place inside and outside the
two organizations, in cooperation with the Partnership of
Governance Reform, a non-governmental antigraft watchdog.
However, Muhammadiyah activists admitted that the joint
antigraft movement remained ineffective, since there were no
concrete programs designed to follow up on it.
"The movement to eradicate corruption is not that easy,"
deputy Muhammadiyah chairman Abdul Rosyad Sholeh admitted to The
Jakarta Post on Monday, when asked about the reasons for the
ineffectiveness thus far.
He explained that Muhammadiyah still had no clear concept on
corruption eradication.
"The new leader, whoever is elected in the national congress,
must place the fight against corruption at the top of the agenda
for Muhammadiyah," Rosyad said.
Strong criticism against the NU-Muhammadiyah led
anticorruption campaign was lodged by Muhammadiyah's young
intellectuals.
"Muhammadiyah must clean itself up first before making efforts
to help the national anticorruption movement," said Pradana Boy
from the Muhammadiyah Young Intellectuals Network (JIMM).
He said Muhammadiyah should divulge rampant graft cases within
its own institution, which runs thousands of schools, hospitals
and charitable foundations across Indonesia.
"The indications of corruption are very clear," Boy added.
Another JIMM activist Zuly Qodir said corruption within
Muhammadiyah began from a lack of transparency in its financial
reports.
"The example is when Muhammadiyah does not report its budget
transparently. That's also classified as corruption."
According to him, Muhammadiyah and NU launched the joint
anticorruption drive because they received funds from donors to
finance it.
"When the donors leave, the campaign will stop. It is evident
that the antigraft campaign is merely discourse," he added.