Wanted: An attorney general

The government's drive to eradicate corruption has taken a big dent with the recent allegations of corruption against Attorney General M.A. Rachman, the very man who is supposed to be leading the official campaign. This is a campaign that can only be led by someone with an impeccable record, untainted past, strong integrity and clean reputation. The slightest whiff of graft, such as the current allegations against Rachman, was bound to destroy the credibility of the campaign, and ultimately that of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration.

As it is, the government has been struggling to convince the increasingly skeptical public that it is serious in its campaign against KKN, the Indonesian acronym that stands for corruption, collusion and nepotism. The government's record on this front has been poor, to say the least. And this is a coalition government made up of all the major political parties, all of which campaigned on an anti-KKN platform during the 1999 general election.

Rachman, of course, has to answer for many of the government's failures, certainly the ones that occurred since he took up the top job of government prosecutor in August last year.

Some of the corruption cases that reached the courts, most notably the one involving Speaker of the House of Representatives Akbar Tandjung for example, were poorly prepared by government prosecutors. You didn't need a law degree to predict the outcome of most of these cases: The suspects walked free, or, as in the case of Akbar Tandjung, they got off too lightly.

So much for the anti-KKN rhetoric.

At a time like this, President Megawati needs to shore up public support if the campaign against KKN is to have any credibility or chance of success. In fact, much of the government's credibility today hinges on it making some headway in the current war on KKN. She cannot afford to lose the trust that the public has placed in her. She can, however, afford to lose Rachman, given his less-than-impressive record over the past year, and now the graft allegations.

Of course, so far Rachman is only alleged to have committed graft by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN). Ordinarily, allegations alone are not sufficient grounds to suspend a government official. But this is no ordinary government official. He is leading the anti-graft campaign.

What destroyed Rachman's credibility the most, however, was the fact that he was less than honest when answering questions posed by KPKPN. The commission has been looking into the origins of some of his assets that raised eyebrows, considering their value and his salary as a career government prosecutor.

One asset in question was a Rp 500 billion (US$560,000) property in Cinere, a suburb south of Jakarta, while another was the two bank deposit accounts totaling some Rp 90 million. His claim that the Cinere property belonged to his daughter and was bought with money collected from her wedding gifts, and that the bank deposits came from fees he collected as a legal consultant, was wholly unsatisfactory.

It has always been an open secret that most government prosecutors are corrupt, and that prosecutors and judges regularly accept gifts from suspects or plaintiffs in legal cases without any qualms. The popular term "court mafia" emerges from the way judges, prosecutors and trial lawyers gang up to extract as much money as possible from people seeking, or more likely, avoiding justice.

This must leave you wondering why we have entrusted government prosecutors to lead the anti-KKN campaign in the first place. But this latest disclosure about Attorney General Rachman is still damaging to the credibility and reputation of the government administration.

If Rachman was picked by President Megawati from among the top career government prosecutors last year because of his record and reputation, we hate to think what the others were like. Outsiders appointed to the job in the past have not done much better. Marzuki Darusman, attorney general between 1999 and 2001, privately complained about the brick wall he found inside the Attorney General's Office when trying to eradicate corruption.

President Megawati was not too far off the mark in her speech on Armed Forces Day on Saturday when she said that it was now widely perceived that KKN had become more rampant during these last four years of the so-called reform era. What she failed to recognize is that part of the problem is right under her nose: She does not have a capable attorney general to conduct the campaign effectively and efficiently.

If widespread corruption was what brought this country to economic bankruptcy or near-collapse four years ago, the same corruption, if not more widespread, is now holding back the nation's struggle to get back on its feet.

There is no doubt that President Megawati needs a new attorney general, one who is firm and strong, and, most of all, clean and untainted. The big question, however, is this: Is there anyone at all out there who fits the bill?