Racalcitrant officials to face tough punishment
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The State Officials' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), regarded by many to be a toothless tiger, is seeking tougher punishment for those who fail to disclose, or lie about, the source of their wealth.
The commission established in 1999 is drafting an amendment of Law No. 8/1999 that will allow it to file a criminal case against recalcitrant officials.
Commission chairman Jusuf Syakir said after meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Monday that any state official who refuses to cooperate with, or in any way obstructs, KPKPN officials or lies about their wealth could be jailed for between one and 12 years and possibly face fines ranging from Rp 100 million to Rp 1 billion.
The punishment that the current law mandates is considered too lenient and vague. None of the thousands of officials who have ignored KPKPN's order to report their wealth have been held accountable or reprimanded in any way.
"The President agreed that the administrative punishment was just too lenient and she supported criminal penalties for the perpetrators," Jusuf told journalists.
The commission has earned very little trust from the public because it has little to no power to deal with powerful state officials who have allegedly accumulated ill-gotten fortunes which were inevitably registered as "grants".
Compliance also has been extremely low. Data released by the commission shows that only some 5,000 of the 30,000 registry forms provided to state officials had been completed and returned.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agiel Munawar and State Minister of the Acceleration of Development in Eastern Indonesia Manuel Kaisiepo are among those who have not yet returned the forms that KPKPN gave them three months ago, Jusuf said.
Of the 26 governors across the country, 15 have yet to file a report on their wealth with the commission, despite also having the forms for the past three months.
"The President was shocked when she heard my report. She said that she had distributed the forms in the first cabinet meeting in August," Jusuf said.
According to the law, the forms should be completed and received by the commission a month after they reach the official.
Most of the 85 members of the Jakarta Legislative Council have seemingly ignored the wealth registry forms.
The agency will propose that officials who refuse to be audited are subject to between one year and six years in jail with a fine from Rp 100 million (US$10,000) to Rp 500 million.
"We also propose that those who are found to have provided false statements on the their wealth are liable to between two years and 12 years imprisonment with a fine from Rp 200 million to Rp 1 billion," he said.