Start with big fish, Mar'ie says

Start with big fish, Mar'ie says

JAKARTA (JP): Amid the government's apparent foot-dragging
efforts to try former president Soeharto over alleged corruption,
former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad said on Saturday that
fighting it "should start from the big fish".

Making the issue a political commodity instead of pursuing the
alleged corruptors indiscriminately would simply be
"counterproductive" to the country's campaign to eradicate
corruption, he said.

"Corruption always happens due to a monopoly of power,"
Mar'ie, the chairman of the Indonesian Transparency Society
(MTI), said in a speech he delivered during a launching of three
books on corruption eradication.

Calls for Soeharto -- as well as all members of his family and
cronies -- to be brought to court have been repeated since his
downfall in May last year.

President B.J. Habibie, who is also Soeharto's former
confidant and hand-picked successor, promised that his government
would complete Soeharto's case before the June 7 general
election.

Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra is now being
tried for the alleged embezzlement of state money said to amount
to Rp 96 billion.

To the public's joke, however, the same court exonerated
former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief Beddu Amang -- who
had a related case to Tommy's -- on grounds of incomplete
dossiers on him.

Attorney General Lt. Gen. Andi M. Ghalib has repeatedly said
his office was continuing its investigation into Soeharto.

Through a decree issued during its special session last
November, the People's Consultative Assembly ordered the
investigation into Soeharto and his family's alleged corruption.

Mar'ie, who is a former aide of Soeharto as well, but known as
"Mr. Clean", said that corruption in the past stemmed from the
lack of power checks and balances.

"A dispersion of power is needed," he said during the book-
launching speech.

Development Financial Comptroller (BPKP) chief Soedarjono also
attended the event and said the House of Representatives
contributed to the rampant corruption.

"The House lacks the capacity to control the implementation of
laws. Among other things, this happens due to its poor
recruitment," Soedarjono said.

An example he cited was he frequently saw a House hearing with
the government fully packed only during the opening. "Sometimes
they quit the session before we answered their questions," he
said.

The books launched were Peran Partai Politik dalam Memperkuat
DPR sebagai Langkah Awal Pemberantasan Korupsi di Masa Mendatang
(Roles of Political Parties in Empowering the House of
Representatives as a First Step to Eradicate Corruption), Upaya
Pemberantasan Korupsi: Menuju Indonesia Baru yang Beradab dan
Demokratis (Corruption Eradication Efforts: Toward a Civilized
and Democratic New Indonesia) and Korupsi dan Tata Nilai Bangsa
Indonesia (Corruption and Indonesian's Values).

The books were copublished by the MTI and the BPKP.

Mar'ie said corruption was basically an abuse of power for
personal interests.

For instance, a power monopoly that allowed corruption was
reflected in the procurement of equipment through public tender.
Mar'ie did not elaborate, but said, "don't trust the officials
involved too much".

Mar'ie said that a certain environment must be created within
the government to thrust someone into "thinking it over 1,000
times" before deciding to become corrupt.

The environment's "concerns and alertness" must be mustered,
he said.

Recent reports carried in the mass media said that there had
been corruption within the government's Social Safety Net
programs funded through World Bank loans. Officials have
vehemently denied the reports.

The World Bank, however, decided to delay the disbursement of
its last chunk of loans that was slated for March 30, citing
fears that the money was being used for the government's
political agenda.

Commenting on the alleged leakage, Mar'ie said that the MTI
would write to Habibie on the organization's monitoring of the
programs funded by the social safety net schemes.

"The letter will contain recommendations, input from various
society's circles, data from the National Bureau of Statistics
and BPKP's evaluation," he said. (aan)