Press freedom key to corruption fighting

Press freedom key to corruption fighting

Calls for political reforms that include the eradication of
corruption and collusion practices are becoming increasingly
vociferous. Law professor J.E. Sahetapy from Airlangga
University in Surabaya, East Java, gives his views on the
subject.

Question: How severely have corruption and collusion practices
affected Indonesian economy?

Sahetapy: The magnitude of the corruption and collusion
practices is like a rotting fish which begins to stink, not from
its tail but from its head. Such practices, which also include
extortion and bribery, can be found at all levels of the
bureaucracy and organizations, from the top to the bottom. They
generally cannot be proven legally but their prevalence can be
seen from the lifestyles of the officials, judges and bureaucrats
whose spending exceeds their monthly salaries.

Q: Indonesians' social behavior is expressly paternalistic. Do
you see that our leaders have given examples of corruption and
collusion practices?

S: Over the last 30 years, only a few of our leaders have given
good examples to their subordinates.

For example, when the late president Sukarno was toppled (in
1966), many people cursed him but he did not generate massive
wealth for his children.

Q: So you agree that the significant growth of businesses run by
officials' family members is based on corruption and collusion
practices?

S: I think so. How can businesses develop so quickly with a
diversification touching almost all economic sectors without any
involvement of corruption or collusion practices?

Q: Are Indonesian laws adequate to prevent corruption and
collusion?

S: The laws are adequate but their enforcement is poor.

Q: Why can't the country's supervision system, which includes the
inspectorates, the Government Financial Comptroller and the
Supreme Audit Agency, eliminate corruption and collusion
practices during their early stages?

S: Because many of the supervisors have been contaminated. If an
official has been involved in a corruption case, for example, he
will never be able to reprimand his corrupt subordinates.

Sometimes supervisors have no courage to report corruption
even though they are not involved personally as they fear losing
their jobs.

Clean officials should have no qualms about taking action
against corrupt colleagues.

Q: Why is Indonesia's administration system so weak that
administration reports can be manipulated to hide corruption?

S: I think the system is all right. But because no sanctions are
taken against corruptors, bureaucracy officials never feel
discouraged if they want to participate in corrupt practices.
Indeed corrupt officials are very rarely dismissed but are
instead promoted and moved to other towns.

Furthermore, none of our laws include clear sanctions against
corruptors.

Q: What steps should we take to eradicate the corruption and
collusion which have blighted our bureaucratic system for
decades?

S: I think the best way to eradicate corruption and collusion
practices is giving freedom to the press to report what really
happens in society. The government should also improve the
transparency of its policies.

The enforcement of the existing corruption law must be
improved. The fifth chapter of the law actually requires
investigators to start work as soon as they receive information
on corruption and collusion or if they suspect any party of being
involved in corruption practices.

The police should suspect the existence of corruption if they
see government officials' spouses going on shopping trips abroad.

Almost all the current leaders should also be replaced by new
officials of high integrity with clean reputations.

The cabinet must consist of ministers with high integrity, who
have the courage to dismiss their secretary-generals and other
senior officials under their command if they are dishonest. In
return, the secretary-generals must also have the courage to
dismiss their corrupt subordinates.

Thus, we must start cleansing the bureaucracy of corruption
and collusion practices from the top to the bottom. The press and
television stations can help by reporting corruption cases.

Problems related to corruption and collusion cannot be solved
if there is no transparency in policies and no press freedom.
Press organizations should not be threatened with the revocation
of their licenses and the authorities should not prevent them
from publishing the facts. (riz)