Corruption and the 2004 elections

Corruption and the 2004 elections

From Koran Tempo

I am very concerned by a statement made by the coordinator of
the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Teten Marzuki, in a number of
dailies on March 19.

Teten said political corruption was expected to increase ahead
of the 2004 general election.

He said this corruption would be triggered by economically
motivated politicians raising money by hook or by crook to help
their parties win the elections.

If Teten's prediction comes to pass, we can expect even worse
days ahead for the country. Before even being elected we would
see that these politicians are already prepared to cheat the
people. It is easy to predict that the situation would get even
worse if one of these politicians was to become president.

Despite the fact that many of our representatives claim to be
honest, intelligent, civilized and religious, they do not act as
such. The House of Representatives and the People's Consultative
Assembly are not places for making money; they are for those who
really wish to fight for the interests of the people, not for
personal or political interests.

I hope Teten's statement will help us realize that we must
create a clean government and ensure the next elections run
smoothly.

DARU PRASOJO

Tangerang, Banten