Democracy brings good business ethics: Seminar

JAKARTA (JP): Democracy encourages good political and business ethics, but Indonesia must first establish a clear definition of ethics, an economic observer said yesterday.

"Good business ethics are determined by a democratic political system, but if the power-holder dominates, people won't be able to promote morality," Eki Syachrudin told a seminar on good political and business ethics.

He said morality was needed to prevent legal violations which stemmed from poor ethics in the country's power system.

The campaign to promote morality and good ethics should come from the society's elite, he said.

"The government's top leadership can lead the way to ethical norms and practices," he said.

He also spoke of the need to "cleanse" people's souls through contemplation of the meaning of life, by spiritual inspiration or the exploitation of people's rationality. Education was a good way to exploit people's rationality.

But corruption and unethical practices occur in even the most democratic countries, he said. But people in power in those countries had to pay for the consequences of their actions by resigning from their positions.

"Otherwise, public support (for them) would decline and eventually cause the power to shift to those in the margins of official power, which is often called the opposition," he said.

"We must strive for greater democracy in our country if we want to reduce corruption, collusion and nepotism," he said.

Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy director Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara also addressed the seminar. He said that in a democracy laws and ethics were expected to be enforced.

He stressed the need for ethical practices, including transparency in awarding concessions, government procurement and an impartial legal system.

Abdul urged businesses not only to consider profits but also their social responsibilities to society.

Indonesian Business Data Center director Christianto Wibisono said that universal ethics need not be partially formulated on the basis of democratic life.

"It is not possible to solve ethical problems in business and politics in this manner because they are universal. Bribery is wrong and should be treated as such," Christianto said. (01)