Uniting against corruption

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.