Fighting corruption must be made a top priority

By Joe L. Spartz

JAKARTA (JP): The corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) legacy inherited by the new administration remains a festering issue which, in spite of countless other immediate priorities, needs to be resolved.

Besides meting out justice or restoring trust and confidence at all levels, restitution and recovery of ill-gotten wealth should be pursued with whatever means necessary.

That drastic KKN action, if supported by the necessary political will, is perfectly possible as was dramatically demonstrated by the Pakistan military government in its anticorruption crackdown on Nov. 17.

Wide-sweeping and retroactive anticorruption legislation was enacted in record time with new national accountability courts empowered to prosecute and decide cases within 30 days.

While actions of the military administration in Pakistan cannot serve as a blueprint for a democratically elected government in Indonesia, it is nonetheless true that a lot remains to be done.

KKN, the erstwhile rallying cry of opposition forces in Indonesia, now rings increasingly hollow and stale.

From a plethora of alleged or proven high-profile KKN cases to choose from, sadly few have had their day in court with not a single conviction handed down so far.

Domestic and international expectations from the Abdurrahman Wahid government may be unrealistically high but in the absence of drastic, rapid and convincing remedial action, widespread disillusionment will be unavoidable.

Faced with a myriad of immediate problems, the new administration cannot be expected to perform miracles. It is nonetheless true that with very few exceptions, the government has yet to make a comprehensive statement about specific KKN cases to be prosecuted or how far it is prepared to go.

Prosecuting a limited number only of high-profile cases may not be sufficient to restore domestic and international confidence, whereas bringing all known KKN cases to justice would be outright impossible.

To start with, a hopelessly overloaded court system, afflicted with a less than pristine reputation for impartiality and rectitude cannot reasonably be expected to bring an acceptable number of KKN cases to a fast and just conclusion.

In most instances, judges would not possess the necessary expertise to deal with intricate business or financial issues and courts would lack the necessary funds to secure outside professional help and expert assistance.

Since the existing court system cannot be relied upon to bring all major KKN cases to a professional, impartial and speedy conclusion, other legal avenues and pragmatic alternatives need to be explored.

A first crucial step would be a clear demonstration of the government's will to prosecute KKN cases, irrespective of political considerations or consequences.

This should be accompanied by the speedy enactment of clear, retroactive and comprehensive antigraft legislation so as to prevent prosecution from getting bogged down by pettifogging or drawn-out legal maneuvering.

In order to ensure the highest possible degree of judicial expediency, impartiality and competence as well as to allow for an acceptably large number of KKN cases to be heard, independent KKN courts would need to be established.

KKN courts should definitely be vested with the all investigatory, prosecutorial and judicial powers necessary to carry out their mission effectively and free from outside influence.

KKN court judges and prosecutors should be recruited to the extent possible from members of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin) and supported by qualified professionals and experts from the private banking, financial and business sectors.

Since a significant percentage of KKN cases are bound to have international ramifications, expert assistance should be requested from foreign governments.

This should include a sufficient number of financial investigators, tax auditors, lawyers, banking and business experts to be assigned to the various KKN courts in Indonesia.

Resulting costs could be funded by each foreign government concerned and expert assistance thus provided would enable KKN courts not only to trace KKN related assets abroad, but also to compile the evidence necessary for their eventual recovery.

Special KKN legislation to be enacted should also provide for simplified "fast-lane" court procedures so that all major KKN cases can be processed within a reasonable time frame or to ensure that verdicts handed down are not delayed by endless appeals and other legal defense tactics.

As illustrated by the ill-fated attempt to trace former president Soeharto's alleged multibillion dollar deposits in Austria, bank secrecy walls cannot be breached in the absence of carefully prepared evidence or without cooperation at the top government level in the country concerned.

Another example is provided by the Philippines where political interference, legal foot-dragging, lack of preparation and coordination as well as outright bungling and incompetence failed to trace and identify the Marcos wealth and where after a dozen years, one single peso still remains to be recovered.

The prosecution of KKN cases in Indonesia, however, should not be allowed to degenerate into an all-out witch-hunt and a reasonable number of exceptions and amnesty procedures would need to be provided for.

During the Soeharto regime for instance, many multinationals had to resort to corruptive and collusive practices in order to do business or to secure project approval.

Companies concerned should be offered amnesty in return for full disclosure and cooperation with Indonesian KKN courts.

Likewise, amnesty should be equally offered to Indonesian companies and private citizens subject, however, to the repatriation or restitution of funds and assets to be agreed on a case by case basis.

Firm and convincing KKN action is definitely needed if public trust and confidence are to be restored and the rupiah allowed to strengthen to levels of Rp 6,000 to the U.S. dollar and beyond.

As demonstrated by the recent anticorruption drive in Pakistan, both image and credibility of a previously much criticized military regime virtually changed overnight and will undoubtedly go a long way in restoring both domestic and international confidence.

The writer is a business consultant based in Jakarta.