Passing Pancasila course no guarantee of integrity

Passing Pancasila course no guarantee of integrity

JAKARTA (JP): A minister admitted that passing the government-
sponsored courses on the state-ideology of Pancasila is no
guarantee of moral integrity or honesty.

Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo said in a
discussion with students in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, on
Saturday that many people who have passed the Comprehension and
Practical Application of Pancasila (P4) courses have turned out
to be corrupt.

He did not go into details.

"Let's not blame the course itself, but the techniques with
which the course is conducted," Siswono was quoted by Antara as
saying.

Indonesian citizens, from university undergraduates to civil
servants, are all required to take P4 upgrading courses.

"We cannot challenge the criticism that says Indonesia is a
corrupt country. Instead, we should use it as a reminder to be
careful, because corruption is really rampant here," Siswono
said.

He cited Eddy Tansil, the convicted tycoon who defrauded the
state of Rp 1.3 trillion and who recently slipped out of jail, as
an example.

"Had the money that Tansil corrupted been distributed to
small-scale entrepreneurs, each getting Rp 1 million (US$425),
then 1.3 million people would have benefited from it," Siswono
said.

International businesspeople view Indonesia as one of the most
corrupt countries in the world. A recent Transparency
International report, from the Berlin-based body devoted to
fighting corruption, places Indonesia in the second most corrupt
countries group,

Nigeria, followed by Pakistan and Kenya, are perceived as the
world's most corrupt countries. Last year, the annual "Corruption
Perceptions Index" listed Indonesia as the world's most corrupt
country.

The 1996 index, based on 10 different surveys reflecting
businesspeople's impressions and perceptions of 54 countries,
attributes an "overall integrity rating" of zero to 10, with the
most corrupt receiving the lowest figure and the least corrupt
the highest.

On the bottom end of this scale, the index gave a score of
0.69 to Nigeria, 1.00 to Pakistan and 2.21 to Kenya, followed by
Bangladesh (2.29), China (2.43) and Cameroon (2.46). They were
followed by Egypt, Colombia, Uganda, the Philippines and
Indonesia, occupying the 41st to 45th positions. (swe)