People take over fight against corruption

People take over fight against corruption

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It is a miracle that Indonesia has remained intact as a Nation
given the rampant corruption that benefits only the ruling elite,
while many of their fellow Indonesians struggle to survive, or
worse.

The government appears ignorant of the many international
surveys that consistently rank the struggling country one of the
most corrupt in the world.

The World Economic Forum this year ranked Indonesia 60 out of
a total of 102 countries surveyed in terms of business
competitiveness due mainly to corruption and an ineffective
bureaucracy.

And it came as no surprise to Indonesians and the government
when Berlin-based Transparency International placed Indonesia as
the sixth most corrupt country in the world with a Corruption
Perception Index of 1.9. The cleanest score is 10.

Last year Indonesia ranked fourth among the 122 countries
surveyed, measuring 1.9 on the corruption index.

Critics have repeatedly raised concerns about the government's
half-hearted efforts to phase out the crime.

The most recent example was when Indonesia's largest Muslim
organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, which claim
a total of 70 million members, signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) in October to fight corruption.

The government has not commented, let alone offered support,
to the initiative, though one or two high-ranking officials have
voiced solidarity, but only when they were asked their positions
by reporters.

The MOU clearly highlights a growing frustration with the
government's efforts to eradicate corruption.

They have started their campaign across the country, promoting
an anticorruption drive and promising to include an
anticorruption element in their school's curriculums.

Both NU and Muhammadiyah run thousands of learning
institutions, from elementary schools to universities.

NU even went a step further, saying it was considering issuing
a fatwa that states that a Muslim who dies as a corruptor is not
eligible to be given a special prayer by other Muslims. This act
is considered as the most disgraceful sanction for Muslims.

The initiative was followed by concrete steps by the
Prosperous Justice Party and the Star Crescent Party, which
requires that its candidates contesting next year's general
election sign agreements not to become involved in any
corruption.

Corruption has worsened since the people identified it as a
cancer that must be cut out of the country at the beginning of
the reform movement in 1997.

Though the vast majority of judges stubbornly acquit the few
high-powered thieves that actually end up facing corruption
charges, some courts have done their duty to find some guilty,
based on the evidence presented to the court.

However, those few have not seen the inside of a jail where
they may finally get a chance to think about the misery they
cause their victims, the long-suffering people of Indonesia.

It is a disgrace that Indonesia's House of Representatives is
led by House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who has been convicted of
stealing money intended to be used to feed the country's poorest
citizens. The sentence has even been upheld by the High Court.

The government claims it has done its best to combat
corruption. Government officials often boast of the establishment
of certain bodies or the enactment of new legislation as part of
its efforts to combat the crime.

Indonesia was expected to have its first anticorruption body
this December, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which
has the authority to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
The power traditionally lay in the hands of the notoriously
corrupt police and Attorney General's Office.

The creation of the body is the follow up of the Public
Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) set up in 2001. The
commission, which has no executive power, has been less than
effective as certain officials have refused to submit their
wealth reports. Just how effective the KPK will be is open to
considerable debate but already the process to select members has
hinted that vested interests are at work behind the scenes.

The government is also preparing to give additional training
to prosecutors and judges in the area of corruption.

The government has also signed the United Nations Convention
against Corruption. It is expected to be ratified next year.

However, Indonesia already has sufficient legislation,
investigating bodies, prosecution means and an empowered
judiciary to combat corruption. It is missing just one important
thing: the political will of the government to combat corruption.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who remained poker-faced
amid mounting calls to replace Attorney General M.A. Rachman for
allegedly supplying an inaccurate wealth report, eventually
became president after the party she leads, the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), secured the most votes in
the general election in 1999 based on an anticorruption campaign.

A senior member of the PDI-P, State Minister of National
Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie, has called him own party the
most corrupt in Indonesia. Even the President herself has been
unable to shake persistent rumors of corruption relating to
members of her family.
However, she claimed that she could not take firm action
against corruption as she feared that she would be accused as a
rights abuser (against the alleged corruptors).

There is no doubt that six years after the downfall of the
authoritarian New Order government spearheaded by the Golkar
Party and former president Soeharto, corruption has spread.

In November, the Attorney General's Office named 180 municipal
councillors from across the country as corruption suspects.

It is not surprising that increasing numbers of people are
longing for the allegedly corrupt administration of president
Soeharto, who has never seen the inside of a court for his
alleged crimes. Many say they could tolerate corruption during
the New Order as it only centered on Soeharto's family and
cronies. Under Megawati's leadership, one of the leaders of the
co-called reform movement, corruption has permeated all parts of
daily life. Some say it is now a part of the Indonesian culture.

In this sense, the MOU signed by the NU and Muhammadiyah,
which was adopted by other religious, business and social groups,
must be considered seriously by PDI-P, if it expects to retain
power.

But, it is not fair to put the burden on the NU, Muhammadiyah
and other groups, while the government lacks a commitment to
phase out the crime.

The government must not defy a warning from the late noted
senior economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo late last, who estimated
that about 30 percent of the country's state budget was siphoned
off each year.

Established in 1945, Indonesia, which is known for its rich
natural resources, continues to beg foreign donors for financial
assistance to keep the country afloat. The donor countries and
institutions, which are fully aware that much of the money they
lend will be stolen, continue to provide funds with few
conditions attached, thus continuing the cycle of debt that the
yet unborn will have to pay for.

Perhaps, it is only divine intervention that has ensured
Indonesia still exists but the government must remember:
everything has a limit.