Home Affairs Minister: Regional Leaders' Integrity Key to Clean Governance

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has stated that the integrity of regional heads is the key to realising clean, effective, and accountable local governance. He made the remarks after providing direction at a Coordination Meeting on Strengthening Integrity and Preventing Corruption in Regional Administration at the Grahadi State Building in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday (4/8).

Tito said the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the body responsible for supervising and guiding regional governments, has a duty to continuously provide guidance and remind regional heads to run administrations with integrity. “The essence is strengthening integrity and efforts to prevent corruption. We are concerned about the number of regional heads or deputy regional heads who have been implicated in corruption cases. Some were recently caught in sting operations by the Corruption Eradication Commission and other law enforcement agencies,” he said.

The Minister further emphasised that the government continues to strengthen supervisory and guidance systems to minimise corrupt practices. However, the success of these efforts ultimately depends on the personal integrity of each regional head. He noted that regional heads are figures who have undergone a long political process and are known to the public, making it impossible to supervise them continuously without pause.

“These regional heads are not novices. On average, they are politicians who have struggled, participated in campaigns, and are known to the public. We cannot supervise and guard them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Everything comes back to the individual,” Tito said. He therefore urged every regional head to maintain their commitment to anti-corruption principles and not be tempted to commit legal violations. Tito expressed hope that regional heads would continue to strengthen their integrity, improve governance systems, and guard themselves against legal troubles, particularly corruption.

“We hope that with this event, although it will not guarantee that no legal violations will occur, we hope they can be significantly reduced. We are raising awareness among regional heads that law enforcement officers are already familiar with the existing modus operandi,” Tito said. The activity in Surabaya is part of a series on strengthening integrity and preventing corruption, divided into ten regional clusters across Indonesia. Following Surabaya, similar activities will be held in the nine other clusters to further bolster corruption prevention efforts within regional governments. “This is being held in Surabaya specifically for East Java and all of Bali. Next, we will go down again; there are still nine other regional clusters,” Tito said.