Uniting against corruption

Weeks have now elapsed since two of this nation's biggest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, formally proclaimed their resolve to join forces to battle the scourge of corruption that has been plaguing this country for so many decades.

As has been widely reported in the media, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to that effect was signed in Jakarta on Oct. 15 by the chairman of NU, Hasyim Muzadi, Muhammadiyah chairman M. Syafii Maarif, and executive director of non-governmental organization Kemitraan (Partnership), H.S. Dillon, which has pledged to support the movement with funding and expertise.

The significance of this did not go unnoticed as the two organizations have rarely collaborated in matters of policy, except in certain adverse conditions when both felt compelled to put things right.

For the two organizations to unite and to take the initiative in the fight against corruption means that in the eyes of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah corruption in this country has already grown to such alarming proportions that it threatens the future of the nation as a whole.

To start with, the two organizations intend to gradually awaken a nationwide anger against corruptors and the practice of corruption, so that people would think twice before they engage in such practices. In a country where the great majority of people are Muslim and the clergy enjoys considerable respect, certainly the banding together of these two respected organizations can lend considerable power to the anticorruption drive.

Furthermore, proof that they are not alone is seen from the immediate support their move has drawn from other concerned organizations, including the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), the Roman Catholic Church in Jakarta and, predictably, Indonesian Corruption Watch.

Since the signing of the memorandum on Oct. 15, many Indonesians have hailed the resolve of the two organization to combat corruption. Since neither the executive nor the legislature and the judiciary have so far shown their political will to end corruption, who better could the public trust to do the job than the two Muslim organizations which together claim a following of no less than 70 million?

For the average Indonesian, whose life depends on the services of a corruption-riddled bureaucracy, there can be no doubt that corruption at present pervades almost every stratum of the administration, from the top echelons of government down to the district and subdistrict levels and to the neighborhood officials.

Although Indonesians may feel ashamed at having their country listed at or near the bottom of the list of countries regarded as "clean," no one is surprised. Resourceful regional authorities have found ways to profit from the government's decentralization policy that was meant precisely to curb corruption by improving control.

In other words, although many may resent it, Indonesians are finding it increasingly difficult to deny the humiliating reality that corruption has become a part of their culture. Clearly, the initiative that has been taken by NU and Muhammadiyah is bringing the renewed hope that something may finally be done about this national affliction.

Yet, the declaration of war against corruption which they issued last month has met with considerable skepticism almost the moment it became public knowledge. After all, for as long as can be remembered, government anticorruption drives have always stalled, if not due to the reluctance of the authorities to act, then due to technicalities such as the absence of a clear-cut definition of the word corruption.

In the light of such a background, the most effective solution may be to encourage all concerned citizens to offer their ideas freely, which could then be sifted to find those that are workable. It would certainly help for the public to see that something is at last being done to curb corruption, if not to entirely eliminate it.

In any case, the NU-Muhammadiyah coalition offers this nation a God-sent momentum for finally getting the anticorruption drive rolling. If we fail to use this opportunity, heaven knows what will become of Indonesia in the next few decades.