Antigraft fight must begin with Cabinet: Activists

Antigraft fight must begin with Cabinet: Activists

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Activist have welcomed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
pledge to personally lead the country's fight against corruption,
but suggested that he start with his own Cabinet members and the
Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) cases.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII)'s secretary-general
Emmy Hafild said Susilo would first have to purge his own inner
circle and the Cabinet if he wanted his anticorruption campaign
to be credible.

"I really respect Susilo because he has been elected directly
by the people. Therefore, Susilo must be brave enough to act
resolutely against any of his ministers," Emmy told The Jakarta
Post on Saturday.

Susilo, the country's first directly elected president, vowed
in his inauguration speech last Wednesday to lead the
anticorruption campaign himself, and told his ministers to shun
corruption or face dismissal and prosecution.

But according to Emmy, at least four of Susilo's Cabinet
members have dubious track records.

She declined to name the ministers, but said that one of them
was linked to the BLBI scandal, two were implicated in bribery
and another one's wealth had grown inordinately in a very short
period.

"So rich is this minister that his son drives a Jaguar sedan
to his school," said Emmy, referring to the minister whose
prospects had apparently blossomed overnight.

Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) issued its latest
corruption perception index last Wednesday, listing Indonesia as
the world's fifth most corrupt country.

Corruption has also been blamed for the prolonged economic
crisis, which at one stage had pushed the country to the brink of
bankruptcy.

In the first Cabinet meeting on Friday, Susilo told his
ministers to use shock therapy to deal with the problems
currently confronting the country, particularly corruption.

Emmy said President Susilo must reassure the public that his
Cabinet members are clean if he wanted to keep the people's
trust.

Taking one example, she said that Jakarta residents had
massively supported former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in
the 1999 elections but abandoned her in the 2004 elections
because she failed to live up to voter expectations.

Megawati, with her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P), won the 1999 elections, the first since the fall of
former authoritarian leader Soeharto, but lost the 2004 election.

Susilo must take action against ministers shown to have been
involved in corruption, she said.

Separately, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) deputy
coordinator Luky Djani said high profile cases such as the BLBI
scandals should be prioritized to boost Susilo's image as an
anticorruption crusader.

Luky stressed that the new administration would have to show
its commitment to fighting corruption or otherwise the public
would not trust the statements made by state officials.

"I think Susilo must revoke Presidential Decree No.8/2002,
which allowed state prosecutors to halt some of the BLBI
investigations," Luky said here on Saturday.

At the height of economic crisis from 1997 to 1999, Bank
Indonesia, the central bank, pumped hundreds of trillions
of rupiah into the country's ailing banks as part of an effort to
overcome the financial crisis.

However, some banks misused the funds and thus were unable to
repay the money, causing the state to lose around Rp 144
trillion.

According to Lucky, the country's rampant and systemic
corruption could be eradicated in two ways -- enforcing the law
to the fullest possible extent and revamping the structure of the
bureaucracy in order to reduce irregularities in government
procurement projects.

"Reforming the bureaucracy is a must, otherwise Susilo's
corruption eradication strategy will be doomed to failure," Luky
said.