Government under fire over new anticorruption setup

Government under fire over new anticorruption setup

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's plan to establish a new anticorruption
commission could be interpreted as an attempt to obstruct the
drive to eradicate corruption, Nono Anwar Makarim, director of
the nonprofit foundation Aksara said on the weekend.

Due to failures in the establishment of similar commissions,
"we ought to suspect the plan to set up a new one as a way of
diminishing anticorruption efforts," Nono said in a media
briefing at Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta.

Nono, who is also a member of the Partnership for Governance
Reform, said that various anticorruption commissions had been
established by previous governments, including those under former
strongman Soeharto, but not a single one of them worked properly.

The inability of such commissions was due mainly to the fact
that they focused on only one sector and, more importantly, they
were not serious in carrying out their task, Nono said.

The new anticorruption commission to be established is the
commission to eradicate crimes involving corruption, popularly
referred to as KPTPK.

The government has proposed a draft bill on its establishment
for deliberation by the House of Representatives.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said
on the weekend that, unlike other anticorruption bodies such as
the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), KPTPK would
have the authority to investigate and take to court all alleged
corruption cases.

Yusril insisted that the establishment of KPTPK was badly
needed, as rampant corruption constituted a special crime that
required a special body to deal with it.

"Its arrangement will be designed in such as way as not to
overlap with other anticorruption commissions," Yusril said, as
quoted by Antara.

If KPKPN discovered allegations of corruption, for example, it
could hand over the cases to KPTPK for further investigation,
Yusril said, adding that the House would oversee recruitment of
KPTPK members.

According to Nono, combating deep-rooted corruption in the
country required more than the establishment of a commission or
the punishing of corruptors.

It needed the implementation of a kind of multisectoral and
multidimensional strategy, Nono said.

He added that the establishment of an anticorruption body
would be effective only if it were accompanied by the setting up
of a strong legal base, reform of the related bureaucracies, and
aggressive campaigning to raise public awareness to support the
effort.

Meanwhile, Frans Hendra Winarta, a member of the National Law
Commission, said that the imposition of social punishment was
more effective in dealing with corruptors than legal punishment.

"In other countries, corruptors are ostracized by their
community, and they are no longer welcomed at their golf club or
other community activity groups.

"It would really embarrass them, thereby dissuading them from
doing it again," Frans said.

However, he added, this might be difficult in Indonesia
because the public was more passive.

He cited as an example the recent national survey on
corruption conducted by the Partnership for Governance Reform, in
which, while condemning corruption, the majority of respondents
said they were also involved in corrupt practices themselves,
such as bribing government officials to speed up their decision-
making.

"The most important thing now is to change the value system in
our society. We have to educate the public not only to condemn
but also to be more aware of the dangers of corruption," Frans
added.