ERADICATING CORRUPTION IN INDONESIA IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE by Fardah
Jakarta,
Dec 11, 2013 (Antara) - International Anti-Corruption Day, which is observed
on December 9, was commemorated almost across Indonesia by student
rallies, speeches by political representatives, including the president,
and seminars.
Corruption
is rife in Indonesia. Nevertheless, despite the persistent presence of
corruption, Indonesia is one of the few countries in the Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI) that has shown improvement.
The
Corruption Perception Index 2013, which was released by Berlin-based
Transparency International recently, places Indonesia at the 114th
position among 177 countries. The latest ranking is a positive
development, given that Indonesia was ranked 118th last year. In
an accompanying report, Transparency International warned the abuse of
power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around
the world. More
than two-thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 index scored below 50
on a scale from 0 to 100. Scores closer to zero indicate high levels of
corruption, while scores closer to 100 indicate low corruption. President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in his speech on Anti-Corruption Day,
reiterated the government's strong commitment to the anti-corruption
movement with the support of the nation's citizens, who, he said, showed
serious intent to prevent and fight corruption.
President Yudhoyono noted that corruption affects not only the state's
administration but also the competitiveness within the economy, which
eventually leads to poverty and poor quality of human life.
Corruption can affect economic, social and cultural rights negatively,
especially the right to employment, security, education and housing,
which should be assured by the state in accordance with the country's
Constitution, he stated. "Corruption is rampant in Indonesia. It is a real threat to the development of this nation," Yudhoyono added. Corruption
is considered one of the main reasons hampering business development in
Indonesia, in addition to an inefficient bureaucracy and the lack of
infrastructure.
A survey conducted by the World Economic Forum recently found that 19.3
percent of the respondents believed corruption affected business
activities in Indonesia.
According to the Secretariat of Stranas PPK (national strategy for the
prevention and eradication of corruption), the government's efforts
towards eradicating corruption have increased massively.
These efforts include the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 55
of 2012 on the national strategy for the prevention and eradication of
corruption, with a mid-term plan for 2012-2014 and a long-term plan for
2012-2025.
Following the issuance of the regulation, the president issued
Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2013 on Actions to Prevent and
Eradicate Corruption (Aksi PPK), which details action plans that state
institutions, ministries and regional governments must carry out. These
action plans include the provision of regular updates through an
evaluation and monitoring system managed by the Presidential Working
Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4). The
Presidential Regulation Number 55/2012 outlines six strategies used by
the Indonesian government to realize the Stranas PPK's vision:
prevention, law enforcement, the harmonization of rules and regulations,
international cooperation, the recovery of assets acquired through
corruption and the promotion of anti-corruption education and culture
and reporting mechanisms.
On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, the Indonesian
Police Watch (IPW) also urged the National Police to end the corrupt
practices prevalent among various institutions and top-ranking officials
in the country. "The
police must spearhead efforts to eradicate corruption. To achieve that,
the police must become a 'broom' that can sweep away corruption," IPW
Presidium Chairman Neta S Pane urged recently. In
the pursuit of this goal, the police must first eradicate corruption
within its own force, while undertaking efforts to improve public trust. "It
is time for the police to prioritize efforts to eradicate corruption
within the force, before tackling corruption in other institutions,"
Pane added. He
urged police investigators to consistently fight corruption and never
give up. "National Police Chief General Sutarman needs to take concrete
action to eradicate corruption," he said. As
the country's anti-corruption agency that has been spearheading the
drive over the past 10 years, the Corruption Eradication Commission
(KPK) urged people to make corruption their common and top enemy. "We
must make corruption our common and top enemy and declare that there is
no place for corruption in Indonesia," KPK chairman Abraham Samad said
at the Anti-Corruption Week 2013 to mark International Anti-Corruption
Day.
Samad noted that although Indonesia has been independent for 68 years,
several households continue to live in poverty, despite Indonesia being a
rich country.
"It is terrible and heart-rending to see hungry children and school
dropouts when our country has several resources to help them," he added. He
said the state of affairs is due to the fact that Indonesia is not free
of corruption. "If there is no corruption, the implementation of
development programs will happen smoothly. There will be no dirty or
non-asphalt roads and no school drop-outs. We are all agents of change.
If we don't make the change, who will?" he remarked. Through
the Anti-Corruption Week being held during December 9-11, the KPK hopes
that anti-corruption values will not only be publicized but also
implemented in daily life. "Let us not be greedy or acquisitive because that is what leads to corruption," he noted. Samad,
however, noted that the task to eradicate corruption is tough and the
KPK must not only maintain its efforts but also gather support from all
classes of society. "We
want to encourage people to stop accepting or becoming apathetic to
corruption. If we can build an anti-corruption culture, God willing,
corruption will be slowly but surely eradicated," he noted.
In addition, the KPK plans to cooperate with the Education and Culture
Ministry to incorporate anti-corruption curricula in national education,
which will target students from kindergarten to university.
"Our objective is to bring up a younger generation that is intolerant
of corruption. We want children to grow up strong mentally and
spiritually, so that they can resist engaging in illegal behaviour,"
the KPK chief added.
The United Nations has designated December 9 as International
Anti-Corruption Day. This year's campaign is called "Zero Corruption-100
Percent Development" and aims to reinforce the idea that development
can thrive only when societies tackle the root causes of corruption.
The joint campaign, launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), focuses
on the corrosive effects of corruption on development.
The campaign aims to highlight that crime undermines democracy and the
rule of law, leads to human rights violations, distorts markets, erodes
the quality of life and allows organized crime and other threats to
security to flourish.
"Corruption is a barrier to achieving the Millennium Development Goals
and needs to be taken into account while defining and implementing a
robust post-2015 development agenda", United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon stated in his message to mark the occasion. ***2*** (f001/INE/H-YH) EDITED BY INE
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