'Reformasi' should deal with corruptors
'Reformasi' should deal with corruptors
A'an Suryana and Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A businessman once shared with an acquaintance his frustration
and confusion in doing business in the democratic, but corrupt
climate of Indonesia.
"Before reformasi (reform), you knew the price (of
corruption), whom to pay and what you got from (doing it).
"Nowadays, you never know the price, whom to pay and whether
you will get it in the end," said the businessman.
His statement clearly reflects the current corruption problem
in Indonesia.
The reform movement started in May 1998 with one of its agenda
being the eradication of corruption; however, corruption is not
decreasing. Instead, it's on the rise.
International surveys, including those by Transparency
International, show that corruption in the country is becoming
more severe, making Indonesia one of the world's most corrupt
countries.
Indonesia was ranked 88th out of 91 countries surveyed by
Transparency International, coming in just above Uganda, Nigeria
and Bangladesh, with the lowest place reserved for the most
corrupt country. In 2000, Indonesia placed 85th on the list.
Under former president Soeharto's rule, corruption was
allegedly confined to Soeharto's inner circle.
Now, however, corruption is widespread, affecting more people
and more areas in the country.
"Not only President Megawati (Soekarnoputri), but the House of
Representatives and regional governments are currently not free
of the allurement of corruption," Teten Masduki, the coordinator
of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, told The Jakarta Post.
"The only positive thing to come out of the reform movement
has been that we have a strong watchdog for corruption -- the
free media," he added.
The gloomy face of the state of corruption in this country
should be of great concern to the public.
While the reform movement is under way, corruption should have
been the first target of reform as it poses the most danger in
almost every aspect of people's lives.
In the economic sector, corruption comes at a high cost to the
economy, in which the public would certainly bear the losses.
Under a corrupt system, business communities are forced to
allocate parts of their production funds to bribe government
officials at the expense of the public, who are later forced to
pay higher prices for goods and services.
"Companies are in a weak position because they must either
follow the system or they'll never be allowed to operate in the
market," said Indra Ibrahim, the chairman of the Indonesian
Textile Association.
In addition, corruption brings adverse effects to the social
and political sectors.
According to Teten, the majority of the public do not have
access to a proper share of the country's economic resources
under a corrupt regime, since those funds would fall only to the
haves and those who are in power.
Corruption would eventually aggravate the widening gap between
the haves and the poor.
In politics, the soaring use of political money would also
hamper the development of democracy, which would eventually pose
a serious threat to the continuing reform movement, Teten added.
Judging from the dangers of corruption, corruptors must be
punished severely to deter new corrupt practices, said political
observer Daniel Sparingga and lawyer Kamal Firdaus.
Daniel, a lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya, and
Kamal, the chairman of the Indonesian Court Monitoring, said that
the court should impose the stiffest sentence, such as the death
penalty, for those who are convicted of corruption.
"This would help deter people from committing corruption in
the future," said Daniel.
To insure that justice is established, Kamal said the reform
movement should first of all touch on the corrupt legal system.
"Corrupt prosecutors, judges, police and lawyers must be dealt
with first to create a credible, clean and respected legal
system," said Kamal.