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.