Awaiting presidential permit

Awaiting presidential permit

The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) has been
curious about police reaction to its reports on nine
"unscrupulous" officials whose final reports on their wealth are
likely to have been found implicated in acts of deceit.

According to the commission, the nine officials include
Attorney General M.A. Rachman, South Kalimantan Governor Syahril
Darham, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet. A. Tallo and Tana
Toraja Regent J.A. Situru.

The commission sent its reports to the National Police
Headquarters a year ago, but the police have yet to respond.

National Police spokesman Isnp. Gen. Basyir Barmawi said
however, that investigation was proceeding normally in accordance
with the procedure. He blamed the absence of a presidential
permit to interrogate the officials for the slow legal process.
The police had sent an official request to the President, he
confirmed.

Things are clear now that the problem is at the State
Secretariat. However, State Secretary Bambang Kesowo always
refuses to answer what is really going on with processing the
presidential permit.

Such uncertainty is obviously against the government's spirit
when it established the commission in 1999 to eradicate
corruption.

This spirit has apparently been perceived in different ways by
law enforcers and society. The KPKPN report on the allegedly
unscrupulous judges in the high-profile Manulife case was
abruptly dropped by the police, who said they had not detected
any crime.

The government's seriousness in eradicating corruption is
therefore at stake: The issuance of a permit for interrogating
state officials is a relatively simple matter.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta