Corruption 'from state palace to political parties'

JAKARTA (JP): Unlike in the past, political parties are now the vanguard of corruption in the country, as a result of democratization and decentralization, the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) revealed in its year-end report on Monday.

ICW coordinator Teten Masduki said he expected a snowball effect of corrupt practices due to a lack of political will from the government to eradicate them.

"It's outrageous that corruption takes place in the era of democratization and transparency, while no theories can explain why. We understand that we are still in a transition process, where the checks and balances between the state and civil society have not yet been perfectly developed.

"However, democratization without public accountability will only pave the way for money politics and allow corruption to spread out of control," he told a media briefing.

In its preliminary investigation, ICW identified six corruption cases which it suspects took place in the House of Representatives (DPR) last year. They include, the election of Bank Indonesia deputy governors, the screening of the chief justice candidates, the hearing between the House and the Attorney General's Office over the termination of an investigation into PT Texmaco, and the drafting of the Tax and Excise Law, which stipulates that particular businesses can be exempt from taxes.

The watchdog also suspected corruption in the House legislators' visits to the shrimp hatchery PT Dipasena in Lampung, which allegedly caused losses to the state, and to PT Pura Barutama, a paper printing company in Kudus, Central Java. PT Pura has recently been accused of printing counterfeit money.

Teten deemed that corruption had become a political problem, and the political parties had contributed to maintaining it as a method of obtaining the funds they badly need to survive.

"The parties look for financial resources either from businessmen, the military, state officials or others. We perceive their main concern now is the placement of their members in particular ministries, or state enterprises known to be a state cash cow.

"And vice versa, the businessmen look for a patron. In the past they depended solely on the ruling party Golkar, but under these uncertain political circumstances they support all parties. These practices have given corruption a boost," he said.

Teten lashed out at the current government, who have failed to carry out their own anti-corruption drive.

"Instead of solving the many past corruption cases, which are now stranded at the Attorney General's Office, they perpetuate the crime," he said.

Teten said President Abdurrahman Wahid had replaced only 15 percent of people in his administration who belonged to the old regime, and whose appointments were not subjected to appropriate screening.

"Although we can see that Gus Dur finds resistance from the old faces, who have repositioned themselves and served as the stumbling blocks to corruption eradication efforts, the President in fact doesn't have a sound agenda," he said, referring to the President by his nickname.

He said it was necessary for Gus Dur to break the chain connecting the current government with the past regime, and to restructure legal institutions, including the reform of laws in a bid to uphold justice.

Teten also said that the House's special committee currently investigating financial scandals allegedly involving the President "does not really show the legislators' intention to resolve the cases."

"The investigation into Buloggate and Bruneigate only represent a political competition between the elites and political parties," he said.

ICW suggested that the government and the House revise the Anti-Corruption Law No. 31/ 1999 due to a lack of political support for the current investigations into corruption. (bby)