Overhaul needed

Overhaul needed

If there is one thing that has almost managed to divert the
attention of Indonesians amid the strains and expectations in the
wake of Monday's general election, it is the corruption charges
which the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) leveled against
Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib. Or, to be more precise, it
is the official reaction from the government to the accusations.

The ICW, an independent citizens corruption watchdog set up
shortly after the fall of president Soeharto in May, dropped its
bombshell on Thursday last week -- Ghalib's 53rd birthday,
incidentally -- when it made public its findings of the transfer
of Rp 450 million (US$56,250), by two prominent businessmen,
Prajogo Pangestu and The Nin King, to a private bank account of
Ghalib.

The news caused an immediate furor among the public, already
suspicious about what it perceives as Ghalib's foot-dragging in
investigating reports of corruption by Soeharto, his family and
close associates during the three decades he was in power.
Compounding the suspicion was the fact that both businessmen were
not long ago summoned for questioning by the Attorney General's
Office over suspected corruption. Lawyer Denny Kalimang found it
necessary to explain to the media that the money was donated by
his two clients to support the Indonesian Wrestling Association,
which Ghalib chairs.

Making matters worse for Ghalib, the ICW came up with more of
what it regarded as questionable bank transfers to the accounts
of Ghalib and his wife, Andi Murniati, in all amounting to a
total of Rp 1.8 billion. To top this, ICW coordinator Teten
Masduki expressed surprise at the huge amount of Ghalib's
personal savings -- Rp 13 billion as of February -- which he
considered disproportionate to the attorney general's salary of
Rp 7.5 million a month. More suspect dealings were reported by
other media publications, including the news magazine Tempo,
which quoted senior officials at Ghalib's office as saying that
the attorney general kept other "official funds", such as money
for the construction of a mosque on the office's grounds, in his
private bank account.

Since Ghalib is an army general, the ICW submitted a report of
the dealings to the military police, but no action appears to
have been taken so far. The organization planned to meet with
President B.J. Habibie to recommend that the President dismiss
Ghalib from his post to ensure an investigation into his case can
be started without any conflicts of interest. In the meantime
Ghalib, who has denied any wrongdoing, has said he will sue the
ICW for defamation. How all this will end remains to be seen.

One of the disheartening things to note about corruption cases
in this country is that, despite the official pledges of
bureaucratic reform, the law enforcement machinery is usually
slow to act on public complaints of corruption in the
bureaucracy. Instead, it is usually the complainant who is
summoned for questioning, although their cases seldom end up in
court. In this particular case, the ICW may perhaps congratulate
itself for so far keeping itself out of trouble. Bank Indonesia,
the central bank, has said it intends to look into the state of
affairs at Ghalib's bank for breaching of banking
confidentiality.

One may remember the earlier case of the scanned telephone
conversation purportedly between Ghalib and Habibie regarding the
investigation of Soeharto for suspected corruption, collusion and
nepotism during his rule. Although the conversation clearly
indicated a lack of sincerity to pursue the case as mandated by
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the law enforcement
apparatus never reacted to public calls to question both, or
either. Instead, it was quick to summon for questioning
reporters who leaked the story to find out how and where the leak
occurred.

With the presence of a sense of justice and security being a
major prerequisite for establishing order and stability in the
community, clearly a total renewal of our law enforcement and
judiciary systems is one of the first things the new government
must accomplish before it can even think of rebuilding the nation
from the wreckage left behind by the New Order regime.