Inactive Bener Meriah regent Ahmadi, a suspect in the bribery case concerning the Aceh Special Autonomy Fund, arrives on Nov. 11 at the Jakarta Corruption Court. Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors have demanded that Ahmadi be sentenced to four years in prison and fined Rp 250 million or given six additional months in prison, and that his right to political participation be denied for three years.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Strengthening the system and supervisors are needed to reduce corruption in government. However, there are regulatory constraints in realizing this.
Building a system that is transparent and accountable is urgently needed to prevent corruption and nepotism in many ministries, institutions and regional administrations. At the same time, the both internal and external supervision must also be strengthened.
However, the plans to strengthen supervision remain unclear, such as the plan to empower the Government Internal Oversight Body (APIP) through the revised draft law on the national monitoring system (RUU SPIP).
The revised draft law could potentially violate Law No. 23 Year/2014 on regional administrations and Law No. 39/2008 on state ministries. The two laws state that only the government may supervise the internal bureaucracy, while the RUU SPIP stipulates an external institution to supervise state bodies. Because of the issues, a separate plan exists to strengthen the APIP soon by revising Government Regulation No. 18/2016 on regional apparatuses. However, the revisions to the regulation are as yet incomplete.
In the midst of such problems, widespread corruption continues unabated. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested 27 regional heads this year alone. The recently issued 2017 Integrity Assessment Index (SPI) also shows that many ministries, institutions and regional administrations still have problems with integrity.
The SPI uses a scale of 0-100, with a score of 100 indicating the best integrity level and lower corruption risk. Of the 36 ministries, institutions and regional governments surveyed, only 15 government bodies scored more than 66, or above the mean. Ironically, even the institutions with above-average scores still had problems with integrity as regards bribery, gratification and nepotism.
Systemic improvements
The head of the KPK’s coordination, supervision and prevention working unit, Asep Rahmat Suwanda, said in Jakarta on Thursday that several systems had been developed to build transparency and integrity and were ready to be adopted. One of these systems concerns managing the regional budget, and there was also the one-stop integrated service for licensing and permits. A special procurement service unit had also been established for procuring goods and services. In practice, however, many loopholes still existed in these systems that could be used for corruption, Asep said.
In connection with this issue, Transparency International Indonesia (TII) secretary-general Dadang Trisasongko said that the existing systems must be combined with strict supervision, both internally and externally. This and other efforts could be accomplished by strengthening the APIP or internal supervisors. "It would be better if the supervision was conducted by outsiders, for example the BPKP," said Dadang, referring to the Development Finance Comptroller.
Meanwhile, House of Representatives (DPR) deputy chairman Arif Wibowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction said that the problem could be resolved by accelerating the deliberation of the RUU SPIP. "We expect the government to complete the draft and academic document soon, and then submit it the House," he said.
Legislation
The revised draft law on the national monitoring system was formulated by the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry under the leadership of minister Azwar Abubakar (2011-2014). The RUU SPIP was also included among other draft laws in the 2015-2019 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas). However, the draft law has never been on the agenda of the annual legislation session between the House and the government, such as last month’s session on the 2019 Prolegnas.
The Home Ministry’s acting inspector general, Sri Wahyuningsih, said the revised draft law was not valid because it would violate Law No. 23/2014 on regional administrations and Law No. 39/2008 on state ministries. As stipulated in the two laws, only the government may supervise the internal bureaucracy, while the SPIP revised draft law stipulates that an external body must supervise the bureaucracy.l.
According to Sri, empowering the APIP’s internal control was possible only through a revision to Government Regulation No. 18/2016 on regional apparatuses.
In the revise regulation, the oversight body will be authorized to investigate corruption allegations of a certain region without the regional head’s approval. It must immediately submit the investigative report submitted to the Home Minister. In addition, the minister would also appoint the APIP staff. "So the regional head has no right to dismiss them. The independence of the APIP staff could be better ensure," she said.
However, Law School professor Asep Warlan Yusuf at Bandung’s Parahyangan University argued that it was not enough to strengthen the APIP only through the revised regulation on regional apparatuses. Revising the draft law on the national monitoring system was also a must.
"In the event of conflicting laws, the most recent law is used. New laws must replace the old ones," he said. (APA/AIN/IAN/BOW)
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