Politics not law drives corruption cases: Analysts
Politics not law drives corruption cases: Analysts
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Corruption charges against politicians and state officials
abound, but analysts say they probably have more to do with
attacking political foes rather than with eradicating corruption.
House of Representative Speaker and Golkar Party chairman,
Akbar Tandjung, was sentenced last week to three years
imprisonment over graft charges by the Jakarta High Court in a
verdict that has surprised legal experts for its independence.
Whatever the verdict might have been, analysts said it was
difficult not to see the political setting surrounding it.
"We seem to be mixing efforts to uphold the law with those to
attack political enemies," political analyst Riswandha Imawan of
the Gadjah Mada University(UGM) told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Only a year away from the first ever direct presidential
elections, the high court verdict has damaged Akbar's chances of
winning the race.
It has also put to test the loose coalition between Golkar and
the country's biggest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) which President Megawati Soekarnoputri
chairs.
Megawati is relying on Golkar to fend off smaller but vocal
opposition parties at the legislative branch.
Her party has so far refrained from putting pressure on Akbar
over the graft scandal, but priorities may have changed with the
upcoming election.
Riswandha added the risk of political interference was also
high in the work of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission
(KPKPN).
The state-founded yet independent commission has embarrassed
high-ranking officials like Attorney General M. A. Rachman and
the three judges who declared bankrupt the Canadian-based
insurance firm Manulife, by uncovering their concealed wealth.
Now it plans to summon another 31 state officials over their
questionable wealth reports. Among them are Chief Justice Bagir
Manan, Golkar chairman Akbar, and Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a
Golkar figure and also a deputy chairman of the People's
Consultative Assembly.
Also on KPKPN's list is Roy B. B. Janis, chairman of the PDI
Perjuangan faction in the legislative body, State Minister of
State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi and former finance minister
turned government critic at the People's Assembly, Fuad Bawazier.
But, targeting such names a year ahead of the general election
could call into question the commission's independence.
"KPKPN should beware of becoming a political tool," said
Riswandha.
The commission deputy chairman Abdullah Hehamahua said that
KPKPN had operating procedures to minimize chances of outside
interference.
So far no political party seems to be benefiting from KPKPN's
cases, indicating it may still be acting on its own, said Daniel
Sparinga, a political expert of Airlangga University in Surabaya,
East Java.
"KPKPN doesn't seem to be benefiting anyone probably because
most people aren't clean to begin with, and they fear it might be
used against them too," he explained.
Just over three years old KPKPN is already facing liquidation
after legislators agreed to replace it with an anticorruption
commission that lacks KPKPN's powers.
Riswandha said that legislators had actually more leeway in
hurling corruption charges through the commission due to their
immunity status. The privilege protects legislators against
arrests without the president's permission.
He added that blowing up corruption cases could become
effective in ending one's political career.
The issue was central in the 1998 students reform movement
which toppled President Soeharto's three-decade rule.
Still little progress have been made in combating corruption
and a 2002 year-end report by the Indonesian Corruption Watch
(ICW) said the malady had become worse under President Megawati.
It said that any efforts to eradicate corruption "almost never
come from above (the government and the House)."