More join cause to check officials' wealth
More join cause to check officials' wealth
JAKARTA (JP): The call for legislation to check the wealth of top government officials by the Moslem Students Organization (HMI) received a warm welcome among a number of political commentators yesterday.
One of them was Gen. (ret.) Soemitro, the former chief of the internal security agency, Kopkamtib, who advised that the issue be treated with caution.
"It is a concept which cannot stand on its own," Soemitro said. "If it is implemented now, there will no doubt be a big vacuum in the government because presently there are many officials whose wealth goes far beyond their incomes," he said.
There must be a "clear and comprehensive concept" in order to implement the proposal, including restructuring and streamlining the bureaucracy.
"The bureaucracy could cut down on staff and encourage greater productivity among the employees that are retained. This, in turn, would allow the government to offer better salaries to its employees," he said.
He recognized that the low salaries of civil servants, one of the lowest paid professions in the country, has been the prime reason for government workers to moonlight or, worse still, abuse their positions for financial gain.
Soemitro said the House of Representatives should also do a better job in keeping an eye on top government officials.
HMI's proposal, while considered by many as nothing new, came after a series of disclosures of collusion between government officials and entrepreneurs. Last year the court sentenced four directors of Bapindo, a state bank, for colluding with a businessman.
HMI said top government officials must declare their wealth before and after holding office and that a system must be instituted to continue to monitor their assets.
Top government officials are already obliged to declare their wealth before assuming office but this information is never made public and is only available to a few people, including the President.
Sabam Sirait, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) said he was "very pleased" with the HMI proposal.
Special law
"I think the idea of recording the wealth of government officials is very good and would be even better if a special law was made for this purpose," he said.
Sabam said government officials who have direct contact with the public, such as legislators and members of the Supreme Audit Board, the Supreme Court, the president and the vice president, should particularly be subject to this requirement.
"Before starting their terms and taking their oaths, their personal wealth should be declared. Afterwards, when they leave their posts, they should report again so the public can see if their wealth has increased," he said.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) supported the proposal.
"Although it is not new, it is valuable because it comes in spite of HMI's seemingly declining role. It shows once more HMI's commitment to the development of a clean government," the foundation's Director for Communication and Special Programs Hendardi told The Jakarta Post in an statement yesterday.
"There is a great chance that officials will abuse their positions given that business and politics are mixed together in this country," he said.
He said in the absence such legislation, top government officials are virtually "untouchable". (pwn)