The elections and anti-corruption measures

Patrick Guntensperger, Business Consultant, Jakarta, ttpguntensperger@hotmail.com

This year there will be a new government in Indonesia. You can be sure that we will see some of the same old faces around the legislature just as we will see some new ones. But it is a chance to make a fresh start. As the government starts to form new departments and set its goals for its new mandate, the time will be ripe to create mechanisms to combat government corruption.

Asking an entrenched government to address government corruption is like asking a criminal to arrest himself, but as the new government embarks on its mandate, we will have an opportunity to make some strides towards cleaning out the Aegean stables of corruption that are crippling Indonesia. These strides should take the form of initiatives specifically aimed at the entrenched tradition of collusion, corruption and nepotism within the established bureaucracy.

The first thing that needs to be done is to announce a zero- tolerance policy. That will be greeted with cynical smirks, as it will be assumed that the new policy is nothing more than political posturing.

Nonetheless the announcement is important because it serves notice on the corrupt; it eliminates any defense that their actions are the norm and that their actions are what one has come to expect. It eliminates or at least reduces any hesitancy we might have to pursue the criminals and prosecute them.

When the zero tolerance policy has been broadly announced and it is certain that every individual in every department has been informed that acts of corruption will be punished by immediate loss of position, benefits and pension and followed up by vigorous criminal prosecution, the new measures should be enacted. Following are a few suggestions for new measures that unquestionably will have an impact on the level of corruption in government in this country.

Create a government department with the specific mandate of investigating allegations of corruption and preparing evidence for criminal prosecution in cases where the allegations are determined to be valid. The department should be highly visible with a toll-free number and email address that is widely disseminated throughout the country. A public ad campaign should be launched to inform people of the new department and how to contact it to report cases abuse of authority and public corruption.

A special investigative force should be created to investigate allegations. It would be best if the individuals on this force come from parts of the country that are fairly distant from the areas in which they will be working in order that they are not known and in order to give them and their families a level of comfort regarding the possibility of retaliation by those who are charged with offenses.

This new anti-corruption force should work closely with the prosecutor's office and should include, as well as investigative officers, people with training in criminal law in order to be qualified to prepare legal briefs for the prosecutors.

The force should be highly visible in the press and there should be at least one experienced senior individual to handle public relations. The force must be and must be seen to be incorruptible. Among the senior officers, only the most idealistic and those who are above suspicion should be considered for assignment to this force.

The actual investigators should be made up of the absolute cream from universities, law schools and police recruiting offices. The force should include a high percentage of women; corrupt government employees prey upon women to an equal or greater extent than they do on men. As well, well-trained female investigators are less likely to be suspected in undercover roles.

The investigative force would have two basic mandates. On the one hand they would overtly follow up and investigate the charges that come in to the department's public access phone lines, email address and website. The other group would work primarily undercover, simply by sending officers to various government offices to apply for routines services from the civil servants.

They would be empowered either to make spot arrests of officials who request gratuities, demand bribes or engage in other solicitations of graft and, in cases where it appears warranted, to request a more thorough and detailed investigation of an individual, office, branch or department.

While the individual investigators would necessarily have a low profile, the force as a whole would have a high public profile. This would ensure that the public is aware at all times that something is being done about the problem and would, it is hoped, create a cachet about the force.

The force, with diligent work, a pristine record and good public relations would eventually be seen as an elite force which it would be every child's dream to join one day. The standards for recruitment must be very high, the force's reputation must be impeccable and the members of the force must be absolutely incorruptible. And of course, the force itself must be held to the absolute highest ethical standards.

As the elections draw near, let's challenge the candidates to propose something like the above. Who among the alternatives on the ballot have the courage and the integrity to commit to vigorous measures such as those offered here?

Now is the time for those who want to lead this country to stand up and tell Indonesians that they are serious about making this country into a place to take real pride in.