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)