New antigraft decree planned
New antigraft decree planned
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would issue a new
anticorruption decree in a bid to make the country's antigraft
drive "more focused" on government institutions.
"I will issue a new decree on the anticorruption drive in the
near future," he said in a speech delivered at the opening of the
the National Development Planning Meeting hosted by the National
Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) at the State Palace on
Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by senior ministers and governors
from across the country.
The president said that the new decree would be issued to
enable law enforcers focus more on "some areas that are prone to
corruption". He did not provide details.
The new decree would likely not take the form of a
presidential instruction, Susilo said. He added that the
presidential instruction on antigraft measures issued earlier
"was a generic one".
In December last year, Susilo issued Presidential Instruction
No. 5/2004 on the country's national anticorruption plan. Susilo
has been trying to demonstrate his commitment to fighting
corruption since taking office in October last year.
Anticorruption activists have criticized Susilo's decision to
issue the instruction, saying that an instruction was not a
strong enough legal instrument.
The government is currently drafting a government regulation
in lieu of law on the accelerated eradication of corruption
It had promised to issue the regulation some three months
after the president took office, but postponed it for further
deliberation following public concerns that the regulation could
violate the rights of suspects.
Susilo has said on many occasions that curbing rampant
corruption in the country will be among his administration's top
priorities. The anticorruption drive was given a boost when the
Anticorruption Court on Monday handed down a 10-year-jail on
suspended Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh following his conviction
on corruption charges.
Elsewhere, Susilo said that the government was determined to
bring convicted graft defendants who fled abroad to justice.
"We want to get those who have been convicted but absconded,"
he said.
The government, the President said, will hunt down the
fugitives and their assets abroad.
Earlier this year, the government formed a special team, led
by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, to hunt down graft suspects who
had fled the country and bring back the stolen funds.
The team has focused its work on the clinching of an
extradition treaty with Singapore.
Many high profile Indonesian corruption suspects and convicts
are reportedly living in Singapore, where they are believed to
have also parked their ill-gotten wealth.
Among the graft suspects believed to be residing in
Singapore are Maria Lumowa (a suspect in the Bank BNI scandal),
Sudjiono Timan (a former top executive of state-owned investment
firm PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia), and dozens of dodgy
bankers who allegedly misused trillions of rupiah worth of state
funds intended to bail out banks during the late 1990s financial
crisis.