Our wealthy candidates

As required by law, the 10 candidates opened their purses and publicly reported their wealth last week to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Lest we forget, unveiling one's personal wealth is alien to Indonesia. Secrecy is part and parcel of the mainstream culture, especially among the ruling elite. The rule of thumb is, the higher a person's status in this inherently feudal society, the greater their privileges -- and these privileges run the gamut, from communal respect to liberty to commit a crime with impunity.

Ever since Soeharto's downfall in 1998, the people have sought to change this culture, albeit with little success, and the wealth report is but one example.

A hats-off is therefore due to the candidates for their willingness to take the risk to lead by example in a supposedly transparent society -- no matter the possible flaws in their reports or in the filing process. Besides, flaws are to be expected in this year's unprecedented electoral system.

Interestingly enough, however, their revelation did not meet with wide response from the public, save a few activists. How should we interpret this reaction? Hopefully, it was only because the people are not used to scrutinizing their prospective leaders and not because the people on the streets simply dismissed it as another commonplace lie.

We must pay attention to these flaws in view of the future and raise some questions in the hope that the next elections will register improvement.

First of all, could a poor person join a presidential race? The whopping figures of the candidates' personal wealth -- from hundreds of millions to hundreds of billions of rupiah -- is jaw- dropping. As a laborer commented in dismay, all the candidates turned out to be enormously affluent.

The question sounds out of place, perhaps, until one recalls the not-so-well-kept public secret: Running for office takes money in this country, and this goes for any office -- from the village level to the presidential seat. The only difference is the sum involved: billions or trillions of rupiah for the presidency, millions or tens of million for village heads.

Whatever the case, the revelation of their wealth alone is a rude awakening as to just how much the gaping chasm between the rich and the poor has been overlooked. The candidates are talking in terms of billions, whereas the people earn a minimum wage of less than Rp 700,000 a month in Jakarta, one of the very few provinces with a high standard of living.

This question prompts others in succession: How much are the salaries of a president and a vice president? The wealths of incumbents President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz differ greatly at Rp 60 billion and Rp 19 billion, respectively.

How much is the salary of a minister? Susilo (Rp 3 billion) is a former security minister and Jusuf Kalla (Rp 122 billion) a former coordinating minister of people's welfare, but the latter cannot be measured with the same yardstick, as he was initially a businessman. The same goes for Siswono Yudohusodo (Rp 75.5 billion), a former minister under Soeharto who was a successful property businessman. Meanwhile, former House Speaker Amien Rais is worth Rp 991 million.

Finally, how much does a general earn in a year? There are three retired generals in the presidential race -- Wiranto, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Agum Gumelar -- who have vastly disparate levels of wealth at Rp 46 billion, Rp 4.65 billion and Rp 12 billion, respectively.

To put these figures in context, the current basic salary for a president is Rp 27 million, a vice president's, Rp 22 million, and a minister's, Rp 20 million. A general's salary, on the other hand, is less than Rp 2 million.

By applying some simple arithmetic, it is obvious that none of the candidates could have amassed such wealth from their salaries alone.

The question is, how did they? The answer is crucial for the people to judge the candidates fairly. In a free society, it is no sin to be wealthy as long as the means of its accumulation was legal. If the candidates did gain their wealth through unscrupulous ways -- and if this information is left in the dark -- how can the public trust them?

The KPK has said it would audit the candidates' wealth this month. The question is, can it be done in such a short time -- even if the candidates cooperate duly?

Second, six of the candidates, including Megawati, Hamzah, Susilo, Amien, Siswono and Agum, submitted only their 2001 wealth. The remaining four submitted their current wealth figures, and thus seem to have more goodwill in this respect. The KPK's argument that not all candidates could submit an up-to-date figure because they had yet to finish their terms was, needless to say, weak at best.

The 6-month-old KPK should be tougher in collecting the facts on the actual, complete figures of the candidates' wealth and use this golden opportunity to disprove the allegation that its ranks are not filled with the most critical, objective and impartial individuals.

Honesty is an undebatable requisite for certain positions of power, and president and vice president are among these. It goes without saying that dishonest persons in top positions will put this country in real danger of becoming a failed state.