Investigating wealth a foregone conclusion
Investigating wealth a foregone conclusion
It took only 10 minutes for the House of Representatives
(DPR), in a plenary session attended by 58 members (which is less
than required quorum), to approve 45 names to sit on a commission
to investigate the wealth of civil servants. This is an effort to
combat the illegal accumulation of wealth by civil servants and
to bring about a clean government, at least in theory.
How will the commission fare in practice? Critics are already
blaming the DPR over what they say were unclear selection
criteria, lacking transparency and smelling of party favoritism.
The list has been submitted to the President for approval.
He can select 20 or 30 people to sit on the commission of
investigation set up on the basis of article 15 of Law 28, 1999.
However, when the head of state signed the bill into law, he
himself was considered to be free of any blame or suspicion of
abuse of power or funds. Now he is facing the Bulog, Brunei and
Laksamana-Kalla scandals.
After a long and frantic chase with the blessing of students
and the media, Abdurrahman's administration still has to deal the
strongly defended Soeharto investigation and signs are that the
result will be a pardon by the President for the suspected and
guilty parties.
The list of wealth, as will be reported by the civil servants
during the commission's inquiries, will be a disappointingly
meager catch, full, not of fish, but lies. Sorry, to be so
prejudiced, but in view of the prevailing corruption mentality,
perhaps with a few cases of honest and idealistic souls, the
commission's result will be a foregone conclusion.
It will turn out to be a waste of time, energy and money by
the commission in determining the true wealth of the government
employees which is not hidden somewhere in the country or
overseas in the form of foreign currencies, homes, cars, stocks
and other interests. Hopefully, God will bless the commission and
its ambitious members. But I can already hear the devil laughing
at the end results.
Allow me to lament: Heaven, why do you allow the elite of this
paradise to believe that hiding the truth and cheating and
stealing to be an achievement, not a sin or a shame?
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta