Our wealthy candidates

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.