The elections and anti-corruption measures

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.