Money politics popular in Medan

Money politics popular in Medan

By Donna K. Woodward

MEDAN (JP): In 1998 Indonesians joined forces against
Soeharto, united in their belief that to overcome corruption a
clean leader was needed.

On the national level there is now an honorable president who
has begun appointing persons of integrity to key positions; some
of those appointees are in turn trying to cleanse their
ministries. But what about in the provinces?

For weeks Medan has been embroiled in allegations that there
was vote buying in the mayoral election. Allegations were
followed by admissions that were followed by denials and
recanting.

Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations were staged by
interested political parties supported by their youth-group
contingents that are subsidized from gangsterism, supported by
legal and illegal businesses operations.

Medan is notorious across Indonesia and beyond for the
pervasiveness of the collusion between business and government.

Unfortunately in Medan, some government and political leaders
seem more interested in protecting political and business cronies
than in uncovering the truth about the election.

They have suggested that it is better to install the winner
immediately than to hold a legitimate investigation first. The
allegations may be unfounded, no more than vengeful rumors.

But if they are not investigated, for the next five years
Medan will be hounded by the allegations that the city's
government is illegitimate.

Medan, after all, is not some insignificant kampong. It is one
of the country's most important trading centers and the
Indonesian hub of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand growth
triangle.

Yet Minister for Home Affairs Surjadi Soedirdja has been
alarmingly vague about how he plans to respond to the situation.

Because of the ill repute in which past administrations here
have been held, the public finds it easier to believe there was
election fraud than to believe there was not.

In the last 18 months there has been hardly a regency in North
Sumatra that has not seen mass demonstrations about corruption
cases.

The former Langkat regent has been under investigation -- or
rather has been avoiding investigation by flight to various
hospitals -- for embezzling billions of rupiah in the years when
the rupiah was well under Rp 3,000 per dollar.

The former North Sumatra governor was reportedly so blatant in
his demands for facilitation money and for his other hanky-panky
that it is hard to understand how he has avoided prosecution;
unless one accepts the rumors that he in turn made payments to
those in the provincial prosecutor's office who investigated his
collusion, cronyism and nepotism in local development projects.

Despite the economic crisis Medan is wealthy, as most of North
Sumatra tends to be, with its network of export-based natural
resources, investment capital, manufacturing and processing
companies, and entrepreneurs with marketing and distribution
skills.

Collusion is a way of life. Payoffs are offered even before
they are solicited. Officials will admit that the fees they
demand are not legal: this is how confident they are of enjoying
a free reign from higher-ups for their corrupt impulses.

As on the national level, local corruption will not end until
those at the top are committed to its eradication.

In Medan officials seems oblivious of this fact. Official
complacency gives rise to suspicions of official complicity.

If the community at large sees that officials do not care
whether the current allegations are true or not, their not-
surprising reaction is, "They're all corrupt."

This is why it is so important for Medan's leaders to
investigate properly the allegations that Medan's mayoral seat
was purchased like a used car.

Official Medan's insensitivity to the consequences of avoiding
a credible investigation is frightening.

Many public statements have been made about Medan's election,
but the person with the most to gain or lose in this matter has
been quiet: Mayor-elect Abdillah himself.

His apparent lack of any sense of urgency about the
allegations that his party bought the election for him is
ominous. These allegations touch upon his personal honor.

Where is his call for a proper investigation by neutral,
credible parties; where is his pride? Where is Medan's pride and
its sense of shame?

The writer, an attorney and former American diplomat at the
U.S. Consulate General in Medan, is president director of the
Medan-based consultancy firm PT Far Horizons.