Indonesia's cancer of corruption

Respected figures such as Indonesian Corruption Watch's Teten Masduki and Australian Newcastle University's George J. Aditjondro would have us believe that, while the focus has shifted from the Functional Group (Golkar) and the Soeharto- entourage to multifarious political parties, corruption is as rampant as ever. The cause of this, they say, is the government's failure to clamp down effectively on political and bureaucratic graft. This, very lamentingly, rings all too true if one considers that while angry crowds immolate petty thieves in the streets, big-time white collar crooks are still managing to escape punishment by frustrating law enforcement at prosecution, conviction or imprisonment levels through the use of bribery.

Clearly, the consequences of endemic corruption for the nation, despite the ongoing financial and political crisis, have not yet been appreciated. What a tragedy it would be if the incipient break up of Indonesia and the present economic turmoil were blamed on scapegoats such as the newly empowered student and worker organizations and the secessionist movements in places like Aceh and Western Papua. That tragedy would be even greater if, as a result of such simplistic thinking, the Army were to be asked by some emerging opportunistically autocratic leader to use heavy-handed tactics to restore stability and the integrity of this nation. The point will have been missed for perhaps a further three decades, until yet another crisis caused by corruption, again rears its ugly head to proffer democracy another, perhaps, ephemeral chance at governance.

The point is that, even in the absence of proper laws and legal procedures to help eradicate corruption, all Indonesians have the moral responsibility to fight corrupt practices. The reason is a pragmatic one. How can the people of Aceh and Western Papua have faith that an Indonesian government will respect and deal fairly with their interests, knowing that the presence of rife corruption will result in arbitrary decisions being made to further personal interests rather than their own? How can the people of this country come to believe that creativity and industry, rather than criminal practices, will bring them improved welfare? How can factions in society (especially in such places as Central Kalimantan, Maluku and Sulawesi) be persuaded to accept that the peaceful resolution of disputes through the use of state apparatus is the correct way to settle conflict, when evidence abounds that corrupt money determines the final outcomes?

Corruption is a cancer that also diverts the nation's resources away from properly benefiting the nation as a whole. When a bureaucrat or politician is bribed to ensure the nation's money is used to pay an incompetent or less-than-efficient contractor to undertake a project that not really needed or could have been completed more cheaply and efficiently by another party, national resources are being abused. Even where government money is not involved, private projects that are given the go- ahead by a corrupt official who circumvents the normal procedures that provide for public consultancy and accountability, are also diverting resources in a way that ensures private interests rather than the interests of the nation prevail. This misuse of resources ultimately will result in Indonesia becoming less competitive on the world stage and, as has been seen over the past three years, will have a great financial impact on the poor majority than the elite who brought about the misuse of resources in the first place.

FRANK RICHARDSON

Jakarta