Corruption, who cares?

"I don't care," has apparently become a catchphrase among government officials, following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's example. Responding to a survey showing his declining popularity, the President said earlier this month: "I don't care about my popularity."

The President's words have given others in his circle an idea or two. Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar, when asked about a survey by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) showing the customs office as the most corrupt institution in the country, said on Thursday, "Just let it go. I don't care."

A similar response also came from Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso over the labeling of Jakarta as the most corrupt city in the country by the TII. Although he did not use the words "I don't care", Sutiyoso retorted that the wrong businesspeople were probably selected as respondents -- those who did not win tenders for city projects.

The indifference of Yusuf and Sutiyoso is particularly worrying as it is in response to corruption within institutions under their command.

The TII's survey, which places the customs office as the most corrupt institution in the country, is actually not surprising. It just confirms public perception, and even a previous survey by the World Bank that ranks customs and also the tax office as two of the most corrupt institutions. The TII survey puts the tax office in 11th place on its list of most corrupt institutions.

Rather than belittling the survey, the minister should have used it as a tool to further pressure the customs office to improve on its performance, or to set about removing corrupt officials from the customs office.

Similarly, Sutiyoso's serious consideration of the results would have been more reassuring than his defensiveness. Actually, his argument -- that it makes sense that most corruption cases occur in Jakarta as 70 percent of financial transactions in the country take place in the capital -- could be spot on. However, stating the obvious as a defense just sounds like making excuses.

At the very least, Sutiyoso and Yusuf should have welcomed the results as a commendable effort from the TII in the fight against corruption.

Indeed, the TII's 2004 Indonesian Corruption Perception Index survey is a good reminder to all of us of our duty to refuse to tolerate corruption in our government, as well as in our society.

Any civil effort, no matter how small, strengthens the campaign against corruption, particularly at a time when the legal institutions at the helm of the corruption fight are struggling in their mission.

One of the most important of these institutions is the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), an independent institution established in 2002, following a prolonged tug-of-war between the government and members of the House of Representatives. While it struggles to bring to justice big-time embezzlers, the latest Constitutional Court verdict was a major blow for the commission.

Although the verdict recognizes the commission's existence, it says the commission can not try cases that predate its establishment.

Another key institution in the fight against corruption is the Attorney General's Office. Interestingly, in a hearing between House Commission II and III and the Attorney General's Office on Thursday, one legislator referred to the office as a "village of thieves", prompting a heated debate. Although this statement was probably politically motivated, it also stirs in us the uneasy feeling that we can not hope for too much from prosecutors in sending major corruption suspects to prison.

Is our battle against corruption really so futile? That all depends on which way you are looking at it. Reassurances can be found, that the country is inching toward its goal of creating clean governance, in the progress made by various civic groups outside the government, such as the TII, the Indonesian Corruption Watch and other anticorruption groups and activists. The next question is, how fast are we are proceeding. Maybe not fast enough, but at least, when public officials are not concerned about combating corruption, somebody else in society is willing to fight in their place.