Editorial

Editorial

As the drama unfolds

Observing how reports on the background of the Bapindo credit scam, undoubtedly the biggest financial scandal in Indonesia in the last decade, unfold, is now perhaps the most popular pastime for many Indonesians. It has all the necessary ingredients to be a highly packed suspenseful drama.

The key players are noted persons. The sum involved is a huge Rp 1.7 trillion. A well known international detective agency has been retained to track the missing funds. And the political implications and the possibility that more prominent people may be involved in the scandal keeps people wondering what will happen next.

And piece by piece, bit by bit, amid slowly gathering but mounting tension, the media (possibly with the help of "insiders") is vigorously unraveling the mystery. Sadly, this saga also has revealed the murky dark side of our administration: the poor quality of our banking management and supervision, the abuse of power among certain high ranking officials, and of greed and lust for money and influence.

Still, despite President Soeharto's order to the attorney general to thoroughly investigate the scandal, many people here are pessimistic that the true story will be publicly known and doubt that the real culprits will ever be apprehended. Short of saying that there is a cover up in the scandal, many believe that in the end an Indonesian solution will prevail: A few heads will possibly roll, but certain "strong" people will be kept out of justice's reach.

Many believe that Adrianus Mooy, who served as governor of the central bank until March of last year, and who was allegedly involved in the scandal, will escape the dragnet. Although his statement the other day that he was unaware of the Bapindo problem while he still headed Bank Indonesia, may sound weak, he has been virtually cleared of involvement in the scandal because he has passed through President Soeharto's personal scrutiny.

Nevertheless, Mooy's statement has drawn criticism. Many say that Mooy's excuse shows how poor his performance was since one of the main tasks of Bank Indonesia is to supervise the banking apparatus. How could such a huge loan escape his scrutiny? Moreover, Mooy's failure to mention his other former position as the chairman of the Bapindo Supervisory Board, while he was concurrently governor of the central bank, has raised more questions.

Mooy's chapter in this saga has added more spice to the Bapindo story. It has also added new fuel to the ongoing public debate on the case. We do not know what will happen next, but while waiting for the coming scenes of this drama to unfold, one can detect several factors.

First, there is a stronger demand from the public for honest governance. What has been revealed from the Bapindo scandal thus far is, perhaps, only the tip of an iceberg. Yet it is sufficient to gauge how deeply this country has fallen into the practice of collusion between the business circles and the bureaucracy.

Second, it is obvious that there is a huge gap in norms and values between the older and the younger generation, for instance in the meaning of personal responsibility and administrative accountability. The older generation tends to think that "a fighter should fight to the end." To resign or to retire from duty is looked down upon since it is considered a cowardly action.

On the contrary, the new generation considers resignation as a kind of responsibility and a form of administrative accountability. This may explain why scores of students have been demonstrating to demand the resignations of certain officials.

Although this battle between the old and the new values is still raging, we have no doubt which side will win.