House passes clean governance bill

House passes clean governance bill

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) endorsed on
Thursday a bill on clean governance, which will oblige all
government officials to declare their assets when they begin and
end their tenures with the state.

The new piece of legislation, expected to be formally enacted
into law by President B.J. Habibie, will cover the supervision of
all state officials including the president, ministers, senior
government officials and managers of state-owned enterprises.

"Their positions are very prone to corruption, collusion and
nepotism (known by the Indonesian acronym KKN). This law will
eradicate all KKN practices," Golkar spokesman Sofyan Lubis said
in the plenary House session to adopt the bill.

According to Minister of Justice Muladi, who represented the
government during the bill deliberation process begun in
February, the government will soon issue four government
regulations and one presidential decree to accelerate the
implementation of the legislation.

The administrative bill is officially called the Law on State
Administrators Who Are Free from KKN Practices. It will back up
the No. 3/1973 Law on the Eradication of Crimes of Corruption,
and the No. 11/1980 Law on Bribery and the Criminal Code.

The House is still deliberating an anticorruption bill to
amend the No. 3/1973 law.

"The government must intensively educate the public about this
law ... to prevent the impression that this law is not in line
with the reform spirit," said Sangiang Siregar from the Armed
Forces (ABRI) faction.

The law mandates the President, as the head of state, to head
a Permanent Commission of Examiners to oversee state officials at
executive, legislative and judicatory positions, and officials
assigned to state companies.

The commission also has the power to audit state officials
holding office, as long as it is for clarification and not
investigation purposes.

The court can impose a minimum punishment of a two-year jail
and a Rp 200 million fine (US$230,000) for violators of the law.

Under the current system, newly installed officials are
required to declare all assets to their superiors, while senior
officials, including cabinet members, must report their wealth
directly to the president. However, they have no obligations to
report their wealth after completing their state duties.

Habibie has been widely criticized for his apparent reluctance
to investigate the wealth of his predecessor, Soeharto.

Soeharto's lawyers have even threatened to disclose Habibie's
wrongdoings if he insists on investigating the former ruler's
wealth.

"With the adoption of this bill, all state officials holding
strategic positions, including the president, must abide by its
ruling," said an Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction
representative, as quoted by Antara.

Muladi has expressed hopes the House will also pass a bill to
amend the anticorruption law, to be effective in coping with
increasingly sophisticated corrupt practices. (prb)