The question of gifts

The question of gifts

In the case of some government officials, gifts or grants are
reaching astounding proportions in terms of the value involved.
In others, they are worth monitoring because they were received
mostly in the period 2000-2001. This phenomenon can be observed
among the majority of members of the House of Representatives and
cabinet ministers of former President Abdurrahman Wahid's
government.

In the interest of our current fight against corruption and
for honesty's sake, gifts or grants must be explained and their
origins clarified. Gifts that are anonymous, or explained as
coming from a "servant of God", for example, must be regarded as
unlawful. In the case of gifts, however, the dubious enjoy the
protection of the law. Articles of law exist that render gifts
lawful.

Because of the dominance of corruptors in our bureaucracy and
among the elite, we are now moving toward the acceptance of false
standards of morality. Considering this kind of mind-set among
members of the ruling elite, it is easy to understand why the
House of Representatives opposed the government's proposal to
introduce reversing the burden of proof in cases of corruption.
If this were accepted, anyone receiving gifts would have to be
able to prove that bribery is not involved. As things are at
present, the burden of proving this belongs to the police and
public prosecutors.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta