Leaders lack patriotism in fighting corruption
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Experts are calling on the country's leaders to demonstrate their patriotism by embarking on an all-out war against the widespread corruption that is plaguing the country.
Noted historian Anhar Gonggong and sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo agreed on Saturday that a strong commitment to fighting against corruption was one way of proving one's patriotism.
"Corruption is destroying our country. It is the antithesis of patriotism," Anhar told The Jakarta Post when asked to comment on the relevance of National Heroes' Day, which falls on Nov. 10.
Heroes' Day is commemorated to remember a battle between Indonesian fighters and the Dutch and British forces in Surabaya on Nov. 10, 1945.
The battle broke out after the Surabaya fighters rejected demands by the allied forces to surrender and hand over their weapons.
Bung Tomo, a local fighter, gave a historic speech on the radio at the time, urging the Surabaya fighters not to surrender, and to defend the country's independence, which had been precipitously declared on Aug. 17, 1945.
The demand to surrender was made after the commander of the allied forces, Brig. Gen. A.W.S Mallaby, was killed in a clash with the fighters on Oct. 27, 1945, in the Jembatan Merah area of Surabaya.
Anhar, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia (UI), argued that fighting corruption could be viewed as being just as important as the battles waged during the struggle for independence.
All-pervasive corruption was been blamed for pushing the country into the debilitating crisis that erupted in 1997.
Despite its pledge to prosecute big-time corrupters, many of whom are connected with former president Soeharto's political vehicle, Golkar, the administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri has yet to put one big corrupter behind bars.
Golkar chairman and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who was sentenced to three years in jail for graft involving State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds worth Rp 40 billion (US$4.7 million), remains free pending a decision on his appeal by the Supreme Court.
Berlin-based Transparency International listed Indonesia as the sixth most corrupt country out of 132 countries surveyed from July 2002 through June 2003.
According to Anhar, many of those who struggled for independence immediately got involved in corruption after the country achieved independence.
"Although they are buried in the heroes' cemetery, they do not deserve to be called heroes," Anhar said.
Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist from UI, concurred with Anhar, saying that the current crop of national leaders could not be called patriotic if they were judged by the actions they had taken against corruption.
"We do not just need clean leaders, but also commitment and action against corruption from them. In this sense, none of our existing leaders meet the criteria," said Imam.
Besides being clean, he said, a patriotic leader would be concerned about how to manage various important issues such as the environment and education.
According to Imam, the absence of "heroic" leaders was prevalent at the national level only, while at the community level "many heroes can be found."
He claimed that there were still many people at the grassroots level who showed their patriotism by focusing their concerns on pressing issues such as the environment.
"There may not be heroes at the national level, but at the community level, there are still many heroes," said Imam, who chairs the Yayasan Nurani Dunia (World Conscience Foundation), which helps migrant workers and is involved in conflict resolution in various parts of the country.