Legislators admit to accepting gifts, cash

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)