Wanted: An attorney general

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?