Mega blames media human rights for failure to combat corruption
Mega blames media human rights for failure to combat corruption
Wahyoe Boediwardhana and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri asked for the public's trust in
her administration's commitment to the eradication of corruption,
but said people should not make comparisons with the ways in
which other countries fought graft.
Referring to China, which frequently executes convicted
corruptors, Megawati said this would spark public uproar in
Indonesia.
"Let me ask you now. If I meet a corruptor and immediately,
bang, I shoot him, I am very sure that all of you will tomorrow
write stories about how the Indonesian President has violated
human rights," Megawati said in an off-the-cuff speech, pointing
at members of the press.
She made the statement when delivering her speech during a
ceremony marking the celebration of 18th World Habitat Day at the
office of the Bali governor in Renon, Denpasar.
Megawati was responding to an article in a newspaper she had
just read.
Written by a noted political observer, the article suggested
the country needed to elect an extremely strong leader if it
hoped to root out corruption.
"He should have observed and studied the issue before making
such a statement," Megawati said. "I just laughed when I read
it."
Human rights activists have persistently been demanding the
abolition of the death penalty, asserting that criminals should
be given the opportunity of making amends for their crimes.
Indonesian administrations since the fall of former president
Soeharto's regime have been criticized for failing to eradicate
corruption, which was once declared to be the main objective of
the reform movement that brought down the corruption-ridden
government of Soeharto in May 1998.
Many observers believe corruption has on the contrary become
more widespread, saying it is now rampant in the legislative and
judicial bodies at the local level, following the implementation
of regional autonomy.
The country enacted an anticorruption law in 1999, which
provides for a minimum sentence of three years in jail and a
maximum sentence of death for convicted corrupters.
Corruption in the judiciary has been blamed for the acquittal
of or light sentences handed down to corruptors.
The Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) again rated
Indonesia among the most corrupt countries in the world in the
latest issue of its Corruption Perceptions Index,
The group blamed the absence of political will in the
government for Indonesia's corruption crisis.
This year's corruption index for Indonesia is 1.9 -- the same
as last year's. The group gives 10 points to the cleanest
countries.
Responding to Megawati's remarks, the secretary-general of
TI's Indonesian chapter, Emmy Hafild, said the current
administration had done little if anything to combat corruption.
"Megawati does not necessarily have to emulate the Chinese
government as our laws could be effective as they are. But her
government has done nothing," Emmy told The Jakarta Post on
Thursday.
By taking no action against corruption, Emmy said Megawati
could be considered as having violated the economic rights of
people who suffered losses due to corruption.
Law professor Achmad Ali of Hasanuddin University in Makassar,
South Sulawesi, said Indonesia needed a "radical" leader to
eradicate corruption.
"What I mean by radical is someone who refrains from lip
service but rather acts concretely to combat corruption," Ali was
quoted by Antara as saying.
"If we prepared coffins for the big-fish corruptors, we would
soon get rid of the problem."