Corruption spotted among councillors

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City councillors could possibly commit corruption, but not on the same scale as that which may have been committed by their predecessors, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) hinted on Saturday.

The assessment was made by Mangara Siahaan during a regional working meeting organized by the city chapter of PDI-Perjuangan in Central Jakarta.

"If, I said if, some of them (councillors) really committed corruption, it (the amount) is quite small," he said.

Hundreds of participants in the working meeting responded to the statement with a burst of laughter and applause.

Mangara made the comment in the wake of the refusal by many city councillors, including those of his party, to submit their wealth reports to the State Officials' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).

Basically, he said, councillors from the party had no problem with submitting their wealth reports, which they received about six months ago. However, they had reached an agreement with other councillors that it would be done after KPKPN had set up its city chapter (KPKPD).

He said that the KPKPN should have first asked former officials, instead of the current officials, to report their wealth because corruption in the past was more rampant.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the party's chairwoman, ordered the party's councillors last month to submit their wealth reports to KPKPN.

Councillors from the United Development Party and the National Mandate Party submitted their reports earlier, following public criticism on the issue.

Many others refused, saying that Law No. 28 on the KPKPN did not specify councillors as public servants.

They argued that the law should be revised first, and if they were deemed to be public servants, they should also obtain benefits such as retirement fees.