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)