Former KPK Chief: Public Governance Must Be Based on Firm Sanctions

Good and clean public governance must be based on laws with firm sanctions. The existing laws in Indonesia should not only be sharp towards the lower classes but also towards those in power.

This was stated by the Chairman of the KPK for the 2015-2019 period, Agus Rahardjo, during a seminar at the Universitas Harkat Negeri (UHN) campus hall in Tegal, Central Java, on Wednesday (24/6).

“In Singapore, government officials truly comply with the law and are afraid to make mistakes. As a result, governance there functions well,” said Agus Rahardjo, citing the nation as an example of clean and decisive public governance.

Agus Rahardjo noted that Indonesian law should not only be sharp towards the bottom but also towards the top. “If this is achieved, Indonesia could become like Singapore,” he explained.

The Rector of UHN Tegal, Sudirman Said, stated that good public governance leads to the nation’s ultimate goal: the welfare of the people. “In the current era, a fourth sector is needed to collaborate in overcoming various issues that impact the public,” said Sudirman Said.

Sudirman Said mentioned that this could involve the government focusing on the interests of the people, business actors/the private sector, and non-profit organisations. “The major problems of this century—poverty, climate change, and inequality—cannot be solved by a single sector alone. Collaboration across government, business, and civil society is required,” explained Sudirman Said, adding that achieving public governance that impacts people’s welfare requires effective collaboration across all sectors.