House members shocked by collective graft

House members shocked by collective graft

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta

Shocked by the conviction of 43 provincial legislators in West
Sumatra, House of Representatives members said on Tuesday that
such collective corruption was growing among state officials due
partly to poor supervision under regional autonomy.

"We are very concerned over the reality that corruption has
been committed, not only individually, but collectively,"
legislator Paturungi Parawansa said.

This phenomenon shows that state officials are plagued by a
moral crisis as they no longer listen to their conscience while
carrying out their duties, he said.

"Such a collective scam can be classified as an institutional
crime," Parawansa of the Golkar Party said during a hearing
between House Commission II for law and home affairs and Minister
of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.

Parawansa and another House member M. Lumbang Tobing, from the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said they were
shocked by the graft case.

It could become an uncontrollable trend that could jeopardize
political stability, they said.

43 members of the 55-strong West Sumatra legislative council
were found guilty on Monday for corruption involving Rp 6.4
billion from the province's 2002 budget.

Council speaker Arwan Kasri and his two deputies Masfar Rasyid
and Titi Nazif Lubuk were sentenced to two years and three months
in prison, while 40 other councillors got two years, but they are
all free pending appeal.

They were also obliged to return to the province their ill-
gotten gains, ranging from Rp 100 million to Rp 180 million each,
and fined an additional Rp 100 million each.

The funds that were manipulated included insurance allowances,
rent for official houses and cellular phone bills.

"We fear that such a collective crime has already become a
trend as it also happened in West Java," Tobing said, referring
to a graft case, for which all 30 members of the Cirebon
legislative council and a former local mayor were named suspects.

The Cirebon councillors were charged with embezzling state
funds from their 2001 budget. An investigation is underway.

According to Tobing, the rampant corruption in regions was
partly due to weak supervision and implementation of the Autonomy
Law.

Also, Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, deputy chairman of the House's
special commission for reviewing the Autonomy Law, blamed the
graft scam on incomplete concepts and misinterpretations of
regional autonomy.

"The collective corruption has become a trend since regional
heads and legislators emerged as the new local elite or new
'rulers' who feel free from the central government's
supervision," he said, citing that the trend could be seen in the
issuance of more than 3,000 regulations, some of which were not
in line with the Autonomy Law and affected the investment
climate.

Therefore, Agun said, the House has proposed that
accountability be improved between regional and central
administrations, while adding that the central government's
supervisory role could then be aimed at minimizing corruption.

Meanwhile, Hari hailed the West Sumatra court's verdicts
against the 43 councillors, but stressed that the convictions
should not prevent the West Sumatra council from functioning
properly.

"The case should not destroy the provincial council's
legitimacy because without the legislators, the legislature could
not function," he said without elaborating.