The Jakarta Post, 22 March 2007
The usual suspect
The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took another bold step in
its war on corruption with Tuesday's arrest of the chief of the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog), Widjanarko Puspoyo.
Widjanarko joins a long list of sitting public officials who have discovered that
incumbency is no longer a guarantee of protection in the war against graft. In the past,
legal authorities did not dare go after corrupt sitting officials, despite all that talk in the
Constitution of equality before the law.
The current anti-corruption drive, unprecedented in its scope, has seen sitting
governors, regents, police officers and legislative members prosecuted or jailed. Albeit
on a smaller scale, the fight against graft also has reached judges and prosecutors,
who make up the so-called court mafia. President Yudhoyono deserves credit for
these tough measures which his predecessors never took.
The arrest of Widjanarko comes against the backdrop of the latest Political and
Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) survey, which revealed that Indonesia's
corruption perception index improved slightly. However, this slight improvement says
little about a consistent, uncompromising crackdown on corruption in the country.
Widjanarko's implication in a corruption case should come as no surprise, given the
lucrative business Bulog is involved with, food distribution and price control, and its
links to those in power. The agency was even more vulnerable to graft in the past
when it held monopolies over the supply of food staples such as rice and sugar, but
only former Bulog chiefs Rahardi Ramelan and Beddu Amang ever felt the pinch.
Any graft case involving Bulog has political implications, as was evident in the
corruption trial of Rahardi, which also dragged down seasoned politician Akbar
Tandjung. An earlier high-profile corruption case involving the agency led to the ouster
of then president Abdurrahman Wahid.
Because Widjanarko is a former House of Representatives legislator representing the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has fashioned itself as an
opposition party, one could jump to the conclusion that his arrest is politically
motivated. These suspicions were only heightened when State Minister for State
Enterprises Sugiharto quickly announced Widjanarko's planned replacement after his
arrest.
Prosecutors accuse Widjanarko of corruption in the Rp 11 billion procurement of
imported cows from Australia in 2001.
But however strong the case to jail Widjanarko and other officials, the public will not
be impressed until Yudhoyono shows he is willing to take similar action against the
people close to him.
It is no secret that Yudhoyono is seeking reelection and building a clean government
will be vital for wooing support in the 2009 election.
That could mean the politicization of the nation-wide campaign against corruption.
Many quarters, including politicians critical of the government, have warned the
President of "selective cutting", a term referring to an anti-graft drive that targets
political rivals or those who have not pledged allegiance to Yudhoyono.
The Yudhoyono administration can prove such allegations wrong by, for example,
ordering an investigation into the alleged involvement of two of his Cabinet members,
Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin and State Secretary Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, in the questionable transfer to Indonesia of US$10 million belonging to
former president Soeharto's son Tommy from the London branch of bank BNP
Paribas. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani says the decision by Hamid to open a
government account to temporarily keep the money violated regulations as it was not
reported to the finance minister.
Yusril's connection with the case is found in the complicity of his law firm, Ihza &
Ihza, in the disbursement and transfer of the money. Tommy hired the law firm in 2004
to help expedite the disbursement of the money when Yusril was the minister of
justice and human rights.
Supreme Audit Agency member Baharuddin Aritonang has said there are indications
of money laundering in the case involving Hamid and Yusril, and recommended legal
measures against the two.
It is now up to Yudhoyono whether or not he will put his clean record at stake. Bulog
is a usual suspect in the country's fight against corruption. But the President cannot
allow graft to take place right under his nose.
Yudhoyono must deliver on his pledge to start the crackdown on corruption in his own
backyard.
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