Civil society, businessmen urged to form anticorruption coalition
Civil society, businessmen urged to form anticorruption coalition
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Noted scholar Emil Salim urged on Saturday civil society groups and the business community to form an anticorruption alliance to fight against what he called the "coalition of corrupters" ahead of elections in 2004 and beyond.
"An anticorruption coalition between the civil society and business people must be set up to face this coalition of corrupters," Emil said after receiving the Hamengku Buwono IX Award on Saturday evening.
The University of Gadjah Mada conferred the award upon Emil for his work in promoting sustainable development in the country.
Emil, who is also former environment minister, did not spell out all the details that he envisioned for the business-civil society alliance, but stressed that people in the academic community had a very significant role to play in fighting against corruption.
He added that the intelligentsia of this country must take the lead in an active way, while at the same time avoiding the temptation in this culture to be bought out by the coalition of corrupters
"It is not enough if scholars merely complain and criticize what has been happening. Now is the time for scholars to be proactive and be the torchbearers of this new alliance, which can resolve the country's problems," he said.
He, however, warned that a common temptation for scholars in Indonesia, and other parts of Asia, was corruption itself, which of course, would nullify their integrity.
"If scholars commit corruption, they have sold their souls and degraded their morality below even that of an animal. Corrupt scholars also betray their universities that suppor and depend on them," Emil said.
Therefore, scholars must uphold integrity as well as their university's image from the corruption trap, he added.
"The scholars must get actively involved in sustainable development to lift Indonesia out of its rut to become a more humane and just place over the next 15 years," he said.
Indonesia still ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to a number of international surveys including one from Transparency International (TI).
Most experts agree that with the 2004 elections fast approaching, there is no doubt that corruption will be even more rampant and more frequent.
Pre-election money politics will also be widespread in the form of business people funding activities -- in violation of the campaign contribution limits -- for political parties in the hopes that their "investment" would be returned someday.
Anti-corruption rhetoric ahead of the elections has also been increasing. The nation's largest Muslim organization, Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), which boasts some 40 million members, and the second largest Muhammadiyah, with around 30 million members, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October to initiate a national anticorruption movement.
Under the three-year MOU, NU and Muhammadiyah agreed to develop an Islamic interpretation of anticorruption and publish leadership guidelines to promote good governance.
The two groups have also embarked on a national campaign of anticorruption, and implemented a modern management system at their own organizations based on the principles of accountability, transparency, integrity, participation and justice, which it is hoped can serve as model for good governance.
Earlier, the Indonesian Chamber of Trade and Industry (KADIN) also vowed to fight corruption within its sphere of influence.
The Anticorruption Commission (KPK) was formed last week, marking a milestone in the country's corruption eradication efforts as the commission has been granted wide-ranging authority to investigate and prosecute major corruption cases.
Nevertheless, all of the these efforts and tough talk have seemingly not been endorsed by the major political parties, as only a couple of smaller parties have expressed a commitment to fight corruption as a key platform.