Touching Ghalib's conscience

By Rahayu Ratnaningsih

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Many a truth is said in jest, goes one old adage. With Indonesia's (ex) attorney general, one can't help but jest about his life drama. And wrestle is the key word here.

No one perhaps knew that the recently resigned attorney general turned out to be a very dedicated supporter of wrestling as a sport until Indonesian Corruption Watch's (ICW) revelation of his personal accounts two weeks ago.

What people did notice was that this man seemed like a remarkably persistent wrestler of his battered image. His performance during 10 months in office is quite impressive: a chicken and Soeharto Award, both were awarded by the students, on top of regular and incessant mockery and condemnation from the public whose interest he is supposed to represent.

Despite everything, he seemed unflustered. He is indeed a tough wrestler, and the most celebrated one, for sure. People probably wondered how, until they found out that Rp 13 billion, Rp 9.2 billion of which was acquired between September 1998 to May 1999, was sitting in his and his wife's numerous accounts. Not bad a job if you enjoy that sort of income in less than a year. To put it rather bluntly, with that sort of money one can wrestle joyfully and comfortably for the rest of one's life. A friend mumbled rather solemnly, "You can wrestle the whole world with Rp 13 billion."

The amusing irony was that while he was wrestling abroad to trace Soeharto's accounts, his own accounts were successfully "traced" probably by certain parties who could no longer wrestle the temptation to teach him a lesson. And he barked, how could anyone do this to a man who did everything in his power to wrestle corruption, cronyism and nepotism KKN? Isn't it repulsive sabotage, a conspiracy to defame his reputation?

Some voices "defended" Ghalib by saying that the Rp 450 million from Prajogo Pangestu and The Nin King was indeed transferred to PGSI's account, only that PGSI here stands for Pak Ghalib Serta Isteri or Mr. Ghalib and wife, instead of Persatuan Gulat Seluruh Indonesia (Indonesia Wrestling Association). Another revelation by ICW on the same day of his resignation, 14 June, was that there was another two transfers amounting to Rp 275 million on February an March 1999 from a businessman, known as Ganda, who had been officially barred from leaving the country for a legal case he was facing that now has been left untouched, to another account under his name.

The Ghalib episode is just the tip of the iceberg. It is common knowledge among the Indonesian people that even for government officials of the mid to lower echelons, let alone high profile ministers, Rp 13 billion is by no means a staggering amount worth fussing about. The mentality is that it's a kind of fringe benefit that goes with the position that people, especially the officials concerned, have now taken for granted for decades.

That Soeharto was toppled by people power last year due to, among other things, rampant corruption, turned out to be an insufficient catalyst to overhaul the old mentality. Kwik Kian Gie even hinted that KKN has increased in the last year since, realizing that the clock was ticking and time was not on their sides, many government officials really took advantage of the short time they had in office.

ICW threatened to reveal more accounts under Ghalib's name in other banks. The natural inference is if Ghalib who has only served less than one year in the government could save that much money, what about those who have been in the government for years, some over 10 years? How much do they have? ICW has promised to present its findings on other high-ranking officials' accounts to the public after Ghalib's case has been completed and it maintained that there was no way that he could escape indictment. Is that so?

The reality is the new regime under Habibie is still maintaining the old paradigm of not wholeheartedly pursuing any corruption allegations concerning high-ranking officials. It never happened before and it is still not happening now. His decision prior to what is officially known as the voluntary suspension appeal, to audit Ghalib's accounts without indictment, was basically a way of telling people that law was not blind, that law enforcement would depend on one's status and position. Common people would need to be indicted first to enable his wealth to be audited, but not an attorney general.

This inconsistency was a serious infringement on the supremacy of law. And the other important thing to note is his bizarre choice of Feisal Tandjung, the Coordinating Minister of Politics and Security to replace Ghalib. For one thing is Tandjung is of military and none of law background. For another is he has never been known as a reformist figure in any way, not to mention that the demanding job as an attorney general can unlikely be two- timed with another key position in the cabinet. So how can he expected be to perform better than disastrous Ghalib?

This unwise move indicates that Habibie is not serious in his law enforcement agenda. Mind you this is the time that Habibie, as a presidential contender, is supposed to market himself as a pro-reform candidate, most suitable for corruption ravaged Indonesia. What would happen when he runs for another term in office, legitimately this time? What could people expect from him in term of abolishing KKN? Accordingly, it's about time for him to start packing his family's pictures from his desk and get ready for departure. The sooner he realizes that he is in no way a feasible presidential candidate that people want and need the wiser. What people want is the type of leader who has no qualms about firing a subordinate because his wife accepted designers' clothes such as the case of Korea's Justice Minister.

ICW is gaining momentum as the instrumental tool for uncovering as well as deterring corruption. And the precedent that a high-ranking official was forced to voluntarily resign following a corruption allegation, however late, has been set. In the near future, there will be no big daddy who will protect corrupters and appease the public's outcry as commonly and regularly happened during Soeharto's reign. The combat of KKN should be a zero-sum game, no more and no less. Surely, other officials or ex-officials with Ghalib's reputation and philosophy of life, who are thousands in number, are currently having a hissy fit because they might be the next victims any day soon. This will be a big project to tackle, but someone has got to do it.

What the new government should immediately do will be to implement an intense, relentless campaign, not unlike the one on the recent election funded by UNDP, in all media especially TV and radio. The campaign shall instill fear, stigma and shame on the act of corruption. It should call for people to also have an active role in the prevention and monitoring of KKN occurrence, one of which is to report any knowledge of corruption to the authorities. It should appeal to family members, wives and children, of those in power to be ashamed of the wealth they don't deserve. A paradigm shift can only take place when shame is properly and constantly instilled into the people's minds. The success of the recent election was the proof of the effectiveness of a committed media campaign.

What urgently needs to be done is to revise the corruption law. The onus of proof should be on the accused to establish innocence rather than the prosecution to prove guilt. Under this amendment, people like Ghalib have to prove to the court that their wealth is not illegitimately acquired.

If he indeed had substantial savings prior to his appointment as the attorney general, he should tell the court what means could enable him to earn that much money. Did he own a business because by any method of calculation there would be no way his previous positions as a deputy governor and an overseas-based diplomat alone could afford him and his wife the kind of luxury they are currently enjoying?

If he did own a business then it would be another case of violation of oath because a government official is prohibited to venture in business. If he got it from his "friends" as he said in Panji magazine, then he has to explain in what capacity his "friends'" gift was accepted. And again, it would be another case of serious violation because as a government official he is not permitted to receive any gifts from anyone.

Supposed what he said, that the transfer from the two tycoons was for PGSI, was true, he is still in the wrong for: one, breaking the ethical code that he, as a crusader of justice, must strictly adhere to and two, for failing to separate his personal from professional or organizational interest by having PGSI's account under his name.

As a man well versed in the law, this should have been basic knowledge for him. Any prosecutor, in his right mind, wouldn't have accepted any sort of contribution either to him personally or his fostered organizations from those who he knows for a fact could potentially create a conflict of interest to his "delicate" position. And certainly he would never have received it through his personal account. It is simply sloppy and foolish. His naivete, or perhaps more correctly complacence, is simply unacceptable and it shows his obvious lack of professionalism and judgment. For those reasons alone, Habibie has enough grounds to terminate him.

At any rate, as claimed by Teten Masduki from ICW, there is no way Andi Ghalib could be spared from legal consequences this time. Any argument that could be found by him and his lawyer can and will eventually be used against him. His action is simply indefensible by any norm, logic or standard of common decency.

"Corruption is a matter of the detriment of morality. The people concerned should be made ashamed and deterred." Who would expect that the above lines were taken from his biography in the celebration of his 53rd birthday?

Following his own sermon, he should support what ICW is doing, though conviction shall still be established by the court. Finally people get what they have always wanted, namely Ghalib's resignation, after months of being fooled around with and one scandalous incident after another involving him. This should be a painful lesson for other high-ranking officials who know that they are not clean themselves. Soon, you all shall follow in his footsteps.

The writer is director of the Satori Foundation, a center for the study and development of human excellence through mind programming techniques.