Civil society and state ally to fight corruption

Agam Fatchurrochman, Jakarta

The West Sumatra District Court in the middle of last month marked an important milestone in law enforcement regarding the corruption that has mushroomed in this new era of regional autonomy. The case involved 43 provincial legislators who were tried and convicted of corruption for abusing their power for personal gain.

The fact this unacceptable behavior has been both exposed, processed through due legal channels and -- most importantly -- has led to a conviction, should be a source of hope to the corruption-weary public. It should also serve as a strong warning to other public officials that the "cost" of corruption in Indonesia is increasingly high.

Although we have more press freedom and civil society has evolved as the main advocate for democracy, corruption is more pervasive than ever. Corrupt legislators or "rotten politicians" are the result of this new power and are found in all places. Corruption in the new decentralized bureaucracy is continuing the old tradition, while the judiciary is running without proper supervision and control.

Although some integrity assurance institutions have now been introduced -- notably the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) and the long-awaited Judicial Commission -- non-governmental civil society organizations (CSOs) remain the backbone of the anticorruption movement.

Since corruption has spread into the regions partly as a result of the decentralization of power to local administrations, decentralized corruption and multi-stakeholder corruption, CSOs should consider a new approach and improve their relations with the state and business sectors. Anticorruption movements should extend their traditional strategy, moving from street action to a more constructive arena.

CSOs should use a two-pronged strategy -- by reforming key institutions and creating a stronger demand for reform. The first strategy is seen by many CSOs as controversial and is often labeled as a developmentalist approach. However this reform should be done delicately -- CSOs should assist the state sector in reforming while at the same time maintaining their independence and integrity.

There are a growing number of CSOs now working together with state institutions. Transparency International Indonesia and the Partnership are now working together with several kabupaten (district) governments in combating corruption.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch is also assisting the Ministry of Forestry in restructuring its HPH (concession) allocation. By starting with a small-scale project and working with committed state institutions it will lead to the establishment of an island of integrity in this sea of dishonesty.

Furthermore, we can learn from the West Sumatra case on how civil society with its many faces can successfully forge a partnership with state institutions to fight corruption.

It began with a report filed by Forum Peduli Sumatra Barat (FPSB) to the office of the Padang District Attorney regarding corruption allegedly committed by provincial and local legislators. This is a forum whose membership comprises civil society organizations and community groups and is coordinated by Saldi Isra, a lecturer at the Andalas University in Padang.

Different from other CSOs, the FPSB drew up a strategy whereby it was involved at the community level and at the same time engaged with law enforcement institutions to assist in investigations.

This was done by the Center for Legal Research of the University of Andalas (PKH Unand) headed by its Executive Director Saldi Isra, who in cooperation with the Partnership jointly organized a program entitled Developing an Ideal Coordinated System and Optimized Functioning of Legal Institutions in West Sumatra.

The program was preceded by a workshop to discuss various problems involving coordination among law enforcement agencies in West Sumatra. The workshop resulted in an agreement among law enforcement institutions, including the state police, prosecutors, judiciary, and lawyers, to work closer together with PKH Unand on combating corruption.

A major result emanating from the workshop is the intensive assistance provided by the PKH Unand team to the Padang District Attorney in drawing up the prosecution strategy for the corruption cases in the Provincial legislative council (DPRD-I), as filed by the Forum Peduli Sumatra Barat (FPSB).

The Unand assistance team also actively provided input to the panel of judges so that their legal considerations would meet the people's sense of justice, with a full consideration of judicial independence.

This corruption case was the first whereby a large number of provincial legislators were successfully convicted in a court of law and has now become a precedent to be emulated by District Attorneys throughout Indonesia.

From this accomplishment, it can be concluded that a successful corruption reform should employ a partnership strategy. Using this strategy, anticorruption activists can actively arrange, help implement and monitor the rules of the game in the state sector, while at the same time empower the public at large.

The writer is the program manager of the Partnership for Governance Reform group in Indonesia.