Back to the Core of Reform

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

The former Director General of Horticulture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hasanuddin Ibrahim (Wearing an orange vest), was detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after undergoing an examination at the KPK Building, Jakarta, Friday (20/5/2022)..

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) released a study that corruption incurred losses of Rp 61.5 trillion in state money in 2021 and had not been returned.

The ICW study only confirms that this nation is half-hearted about eradicating corruption. In fact, the core of the 1998 reform movement was to create a clean government free from corruption, collusion and nepotism. This is stated in a People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree.

The reform movement has passed. The various slogans, programs, and discourses on eradicating corruption, such as not performing funereal prayers for corruptors who have died and stating that the disease of corruption in Indonesia is in its fourth stage, have become mere political rhetoric. In actual practice, the government's aim to strengthen the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has crippled the KPK, and there are promotional discounts at courts of appeal and cassation for corruption cases.

Also read:

> Strong Signals of the Danger of Corruption

> Maintaining Anticorruption Energy

Another study by Rimawan Pradiptyo published in the book Korupsi Mengorupsi Indonesia (Corruption Corrupts Indonesia, 2009) shows that state losses due to corruption in 2001-2008 amounted to Rp 67.55 trillion. However, the court ordered the return of just Rp 4.76 trillion. The rest went to the taxpayers!

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Ambon Mayor Richard Louhenapessy arrives at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (13/5/2022). Richard was forcibly picked up by the KPK team because he was uncooperative with the legal process after he was named a suspect in the 2020 bribery case in Ambon City..

There also seems to be unequal treatment in handling financial crimes. In the Jiwasraya case, it was deemed that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) had confiscated all of the defendant’s suspected wealth and assets. The police seemed outraged when the AGO arrested and confiscated perpetrators of binary options games and trading robots. All their wealth was tracked down. However, this spirit does not appear in cases of corruption or mega corruption.

Even though it may seem a cliché, it must continue to be voiced that corruption is a crime against humanity, an extraordinary crime against this country. How could it not be, when the country’s elite have embezzled the social assistance for the poor? To borrow Nurcholish Madjid's phrase, the nation's elite is experiencing moral bankruptcy. It takes understanding among the leaders in the legislature, executive, and judiciary about the dangers of corruption, which is endemic to this country.

Also read:

> Alarm for KPK

> Carelessness in Fighting Corruption

There is still time for the country to act, in particular President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. It is time to realize the draft asset confiscation law, which was part of his Nawacita campaign promise. Submit the asset confiscation bill to the House of Representatives (DPR) and then pass it as the Asset Confiscation Law. It is fair that whoever is proven guilty of looting state money that their plunder is confiscated by the state and returned to the people.

There is no need for a lot of rhetoric on eradicating the corruption that has impoverished the country. What is needed is the courage to take political action. Submitting the asset confiscation bill and restoring the KPK to its original state are necessary political steps. Return to the path of reform, to establishing a government that is free from corruption, collusion and nepotism. Don't allow nepotism or collusion in this country to grow even more rampant.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.