Religion 'won't win corruption fight'
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Religious leaders have confessed that strict law enforcement and harsh punishments are more effective than religious teachings in combating corruption.
Addressing a seminar on corruption eradication on Monday, Muslim cleric Solahuddin Wahid said that although the country sees its people as religious, and the state's ideology is based on divinity, Indonesia is ranked among the world's most corrupt nations.
"Places of worship are abundant and filled to capacity, some 200,000 people also perform the haj pilgrimage every year. But corruption is still rampant," said Solahuddin, also deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Last year, Indonesia was ranked as fifth most corrupt nation, climbing one place from sixth in the previous year, based on a report from the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI).
Some prominent corruption cases have even occurred within the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The guilty parties, Solahuddin said, were not deterred by the knowledge that religion prohibits corruption and that God will surely punish them.
"Thus, 'worldly' punishments would be more effective than a religious approach in battling corruption," said the brother of former president and Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid.
Minister Weinata Sairin from the Indonesian Churches Association (PGI) said there has been a dichotomy between spiritual life and the professional world.
"Religiousness is still a matter of ceremony and symbol. The churches are full of worshipers, but corruption remains," he said.
Solahuddin said the country's educators should teach universal values.
"We have to teach our children to be honest, hardworking, loving, understanding and disciplined. That money is not the main goal but rather the fruitage of our hard work," he said.
Religion would continue to play a vital role, Solahuddin said, but more to provide warnings and explanations. "But religion is not limited to prayer. Also, there is no such thing as sharia (Islamic) law if justice is not upheld -- we would hunt down those who did not fast or pray, but free the corruptors -- for what?" Solahuddin said.
Meanwhile, legal expert Romli Atmasasmita urged the government to soon ratify the United Nations' 2003 Convention Against Corruption and translate it into laws and regulations.
"Ratification would grant us the right to file lawsuits, such as the restoration of corruption assets in other countries. It would also oblige the government to obey the regulations of the convention," he said in the seminar.
Another legal expert, Sunaryati Hartono, said that reform was needed at all levels of government to avoid corruption, collusion and nepotism.
"The structure of the administration must be transparent and consist of individuals of the same status, or on the same level, so that it can be more modern, efficient and democratic," Sunaryati said.
He said outsourcing was also worth consideration.
According to Sunaryati, at least nine bills should be passed without delay to ensure the government functions at its best.
They are those on ombudsmen, public services, governmental ethics, administrative law, the civil service, the division of power between the central and local governments, the witness protection scheme, the administrative court and the bill on freedom of information.