Megawati renews call to combat graft, uphold law

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Sunday reiterated calls for the country to fight against corruption, collusion and nepotism that had tarnished the country's image.

Speaking in front of tens of thousands of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) supporters in Semarang, Central Java, Megawati expressed concern over the fact that Indonesia was classified as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

"Whether the survey is valid or not, still the report concerns me and makes me sick," Megawati said during the celebration of the 29th anniversary of the largest party in the country.

The president, who is also the chairwoman of the party, underlined the importance of all Indonesians joining hands and fighting against such practices.

She also said that it was important to uphold the law when fighting corruption.

"We have to end the (corrupt) condition and uphold the law," the President was quoted by Antara as saying.

According to the latest survey from Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), Indonesia is the most corrupt country in Asia. In the scale of one to 10 with 10 being the worst, Indonesia scored 9.92.

The latest developments in the country seem to verify the survey with House of Representative Speaker Akbar Tandjung being detained and Central Bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin being sentenced to a three-year jail term, both for involvement in graft cases.

However, it was not immediately clear whether Megawati's remarks represented the party's stance on the planned establishment of a House special committee to probe the Akbar case, scheduled to be decided on Monday.

Should such a reluctance represent the party's stance then most likely the party will not support the establishment of this special committee as Akbar is ready to be brought before the courts.

Megawati is currently in a dilemma where on the one hand she is fed up with the corruption practices, but on the other hand, she would lose the support from Golkar, the second largest party led by Akbar, if her party supported the establishment of the special inquiry committee.

During Sunday's celebrations Megawati also expressed concern over the alleged involvement of some of her party's cadres in money politics, especially in the election process of governors or regents across the country.

"Many of the party's cadres in the executive and legislative bodies have tarnished the party's image as they have been involved in money politics, during the election process of governors and regents," Megawati said.

To handle the rising problems, Megawati said that she had ordered the party's leaders to hold routine meetings to discuss the issue.

At the celebration Megawati was accompanied by her husband Taufik Kiemas, PDI Perjuangan's secretary general Soetjipto and deputy secretary general Pramono Anung Wibowo.