Legislators admit to accepting gifts, cash

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the House of Representatives seemed adamant, when confronted with an alleged bribery case, that accepting gifts, cash and facilities from their colleagues was commonplace.

Legislators interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Thursday said that the practice was considered acceptable because "practically everybody did it" and they knew they were beyond the reach of the law.

Controversy over the practice of giving gifts in the House intensified after the discovery on Monday that a legislator had allegedly received a Rp 10 million traveler's check from a ranking government official.

The controversy centered around legislator Aberson Marle Sihaloho from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction and Director General for Budgeting at the Ministry of Finance Anshari Ritonga.

Separately, police sources said that they were studying the case and would soon question both Anshari and Aberson. A legislator placed the blame on the current indirect election system, known as the proportional system.

Sukono of Commission III for forestry and agriculture said he was given an amount of money right after finishing deliberation on a bill on plantation variety.

"We convened for deliberation on the bill for days and nights. It is normal for me to accept cash," he told the Post.

"I receive extra money amounting to between Rp 500,000 (US$52) and Rp 1 million ($104) from the Ministry of Agriculture. I don't consider it to be a special case," said the member of the PDI Perjuangan faction at the legislative building.

Legislators receive a take-home pay of about Rp 12.5 million a month plus an array of other benefits including an "intensive communications" allowance of Rp 35 million per year (after tax) and Rp 6 million for a washing machine allowance per year.

A legislator from the United Development Party (PPP) faction who asked to remain anonymous said the amount received by each legislator was not the same.

"Perhaps, because I am outspoken I receive only a little," he said, "basically, I don't want to talk about this issue. Let each faction deal with it."

Another outspoken legislator, however, is totally opposed to the practice.

"Both the legislator and the state official have to resign for the sake of upholding morality because both of them are in positions of public office," Hartono Mardjono told the Post.

Hartono acknowledged that bribery was rife in the House.

"I know for sure and am very much aware that some of my colleagues have received bribes," he said.

The current proportional system, Hartono said, doesn't allow the people to choose their own representatives.

As a result, the candidates who have been appointed do not feel accountable to their constituents and instead place their loyalty with their parties.

Those considered "wet" commissions, Hartono said, were Commissions III, IV, V, VIII, and IX, all of which dealt with supervisory tasks over banking and state enterprises. "Wet" commissions refer to those where bribery is a common practice, whereas in "dry" commissions it is not.

Other forms of bribery, he said, included privileges of various facilities, project concessions and "complementary" gifts for legislators and their family members.

He said he recalled legislators recently asked an institution, he refused to name, to discuss a draft law relating to the institution's future operation on the tourist island of Batam.

"But cash is the most common form of bribery. Enclosed in an envelope it is untraceable," he said.

Such a misdeed, Hartono said, was committed by legislators with the full knowledge of their political parties because part of the money was channeled to certain party officials.

"The sad thing is that there is no law enforcement to stop this misdeed," he said.

Legislators can accept bribes without fear of being caught, Hartono said.

The existing 1999 political law does not stipulate whether a legislator may or may not receive gifts. (08/emf/hbk)