Emergency of Corrupt Regional Heads: KPPOD Confirms High Salaries Will Not Be the Solution

The Regional Autonomy Monitoring Committee (KPPOD) has assessed that the surge in corruption cases ensnaring regional heads cannot be resolved merely by raising officials’ salaries. KPPOD is urging the central government to immediately carry out comprehensive reforms of the political system, governance, and oversight mechanisms as a solution to prevent corruption in the regions. KPPOD Executive Director Arman Suparman stated that there are at least three main dimensions that must be the focus of government reform to break the chain of corruption among regional heads. According to him, there is no strong correlation between salary levels and the intent or practice of corruption. “There are actually three layers or three dimensions that need to be addressed. Beyond the matter of salary, because we ourselves have also noted that a salary increase does not have a strong correlation or accuracy with the intent or practice of corruption carried out by unscrupulous regional heads,” Arman said when contacted by Media Indonesia on Tuesday (21/7). Arman explained that the first reform must start with the political system that produces policy makers. He assessed that the high political costs in general elections and regional elections, coupled with the suboptimal cadre development of political parties, are factors that encourage corrupt practices among regional heads. “The problem lies in the political system that produces the policy makers. This includes political parties, the electoral system, and the regional election system, which makes our political contests very expensive,” he said. He assessed that political parties have not optimally carried out their cadre development function, thus failing to produce cadres with sufficient integrity and capacity to lead regional governments. “Reform must start from the upstream, namely improving political parties so they can carry out cadre development that produces cadres with integrity and capacity, while also being able to produce policies and institutions that can close opportunities for corruption,” he said. According to Arman, as long as the political recruitment process continues to produce leaders born from high-cost contests without a sound cadre development system, various anti-corruption efforts will only solve problems downstream. “In any case, political system reform must be the government’s main agenda if it wants to sustainably break the chain of corruption among regional heads,” he explained. Besides the political system, Arman assessed that the central government also needs to reform regional government policy and governance. According to him, loopholes for corruption appear in almost all stages of regional government administration, from development planning, budgeting, procurement of goods and services, public services, licensing, to the management of the state civil apparatus (ASN). He explained that corrupt practices often begin during the drafting of development plans when certain projects are directed to specific parties. Similar loopholes are still found in the procurement of goods and services, even though the government has implemented an electronic system. “Although e-catalogues and e-procurement already exist, the current system has not been able to close the space for illicit agreements outside the system, so unofficial deals continue to occur,” he said. Arman also highlighted the weak certainty of procedures, time, and costs in licensing services, which opens up opportunities for bribery and gratuities. Furthermore, the authority of regional heads in managing the state civil apparatus is still considered highly vulnerable to abuse through the practice of buying and selling positions. He further assessed that strengthening the oversight system is the third dimension that must be immediately improved by the central government. According to him, internal oversight through regional inspectorates has not been optimal because they are structurally subordinate to the regional head. “We need to consider how to strengthen the position of the inspectorate so that it can carry out its oversight function effectively,” Arman said. He also stressed that external oversight by the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), law enforcement officials, and the public is still ineffective, leaving regional heads with room to circumvent various policies and procedures for personal gain. On this basis, Arman asserted that the central government needs to carry out comprehensive reforms to policy design, governance, and oversight systems if it wants to stop the recurrence of corruption cases involving regional heads. “This step is far more effective than simply relying on improving the welfare (salaries) of regional heads as a corruption prevention instrument,” he concluded.