Political will needed

Political will needed

What is the definition of corruption? Odd as it may seem,
difficulties in answering this simple question in clear-cut legal
terms seem to be among the obstacles hampering the search for the
billions of dollars former president Soeharto is believed by many
to have squirreled away during his 32 years in power. The most
basic presumption is that corruption is owning wealth that can be
proven to have been acquired unlawfully. Attorney General Lt.
Gen. Andi Muhammad Ghalib, who President B.J. Habibie has
entrusted with looking into public allegations of corruption by
the former president, is probably using this definition to answer
questions about why he seems to be making no progress with his
investigations, particularly when he said: "The police have to
ask where the chickens are, because how can someone be accused of
stealing chickens when the stolen chickens are nowhere to be
found."

Obviously, such a legalistic approach to investigating the
corruption charges that critics have been throwing at the ex-
president, his family and close associates satisfies practically
no one. This is all the more true since corruption, as the public
perceives it, is an evil that is easy to see, though often
difficult to prove. For the public, it is hard to see how the ex-
president's family and associates failed to benefit -- and
benefit substantially -- when they controlled almost every sector
of business and industry through monopolies and other forms of
preferential treatment extended to them by Soeharto. Indonesian
Corruption Watch (ICW), an independent private corruption
watchdog based in Jakarta, for example alleges that at least 44
multinational companies were involved in Soeharto-linked projects
and businesses.

To those critics, obviously, all the statements made by top
law enforcement authorities that there is no proof of corruption
by either Soeharto or members of his regime may sound like mere
excuses designed to extricate themselves from wrongs committed in
the past. For this reason, concerned citizens groups have been
looking for more effective ways to prove corruption -- not only
by Soeharto, but possibly also by other members of his New Order
regime. ICW, for example, is urging the country's highest
legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR,
which is slated to convene in a special session next month, to
pronounce a "political judgment" on public allegations that
Soeharto abused his power to enrich his family and cronies, since
the judicial means employed so far have proved to be ineffective.
ICW is also urging Habibie to appoint a special prosecutor to
take over the investigations from Ghalib, even though most
analysts say there is little hope that any government
investigation would ever manage to reach the truth because of the
lack of political will on the part of the government.

Following a similar tack, another Indonesian corruption
watchdog, the Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI), this week
exposed no less than 79 decrees, issued by Soeharto when he was
president, that were either designed or manipulated to benefit
businesspeople close to him. Among the most conspicuous, and also
cited by ICW, were two benefiting Soeharto's long-time golfing
buddy Mohamad "Bob" Hasan and Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra, to the detriment of the state -- the first
by giving financial assistance to the PT Kiani Kertas pulp and
paper mill, the second by exempting PT Timor Putra Nasional from
paying duties and luxury sales tax on imported cars.

For the sake of not only recovering any public money that may
have been lost through such practices, but also to bolster the
prestige and authority of the current regime, the government
would be well advised to accept all the assistance that such
watchdog institutions like the ICW and MTI will no doubt be most
happy to provide. The most important factor to guarantee that the
investigations stand a chance of success, however, remains that
the government summons the necessary political will to carry
through its efforts.