Wealth commission to prob 35,000 government officials
Wealth commission to prob 35,000 government officials
JAKARTA (JP): The independent commission investigating the
wealth of government officials will target 35,000 officials
ranging from the President to top echelon state employees.
Other state officials to be put under scrutiny will include
ministers, governors, regents, judges, ambassadors, high-ranking
police officers and officials of state enterprises.
Chairman of the government team to prepare the commission,
Darmin Nasution, said on Friday that while collecting evidence
into alleged corruption involving state officials, the commission
would have a subpoena authority.
A member of the team, Ramli Adnansasmita, said the commission
should have to complete its job by May 20 next year.
He said, however, that the commission would not be able to
reach former president Soeharto, citing the legal principle which
disallows a law to cover a period before its enactment. The
commission will be formed based on Law No. 28/1999 on Antigrafts,
passed under B.J. Habibie's administration.
"The commission cannot take measures against all state
officials who completed their tenures before it takes shape,"
Ramli said.
Soeharto, who resigned in May last year, has been alleged of
making a fortune during his 32-year tenure.
Darmin said 135 government officials and non-governmental
organization (NGOs) activists were nominated to fill 25 seats in
the commission.
People will have until Dec. 4 to file their objections, along
with evidence, to the team, said Darmin. On that day, the
President will submit the names to the House of Representatives
(DPR), which will carry out the selection.
Former minister of environment Panangian Siregar was among 72
candidates representing the government.
The other 63 nominees have been selected from 85 NGOs and
nonbureaucratic institutions. They include Lili Asdjudiredja, who
chaired the House of Representatives commission to investigate
the high-profile Bank Bali scandal, Salahuddin Wahid, the brother
of President Abdurrahman Wahid, and activists from the Indonesian
Consumer Foundation Tini Hadad and Zumrotin Kasru Susilo.
None of the candidates come from the popular anticorruption
organizations, such as the Indonesian Corruption Watch or the
Indonesian Transparency Society.
"The organizations never submitted their candidate's names to
our office," Ramli explained.
He also said his team had to turn down some potential
candidates because they did not meet the requirement age of
between 40 and 75 years old.(04)