Corruption Threatens Civil Rights

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Non-active Riau Islands governor Nurdin Basirun attends a hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (4/12/2019). Nurdin is suspected of accepting gratuities amounting to Rp 4.22 billion from 2016-2019. The money was reportedly handed over relation to the issuance of principle licenses for the use of marine space, reclamation location permits and reclamation implementation permits.

Most cases of corruption involving regional heads are related to public service, such as that for infrastructure, health and education. Any indifference will continue to harm public interests.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Considering the cases of corruption that involve regional heads in Indonesia, the public should be careful in exercising its voting right in the 2020 simultaneous regional elections covering 270 regions. It’s because most of the corruption implicating regional heads threatens the rights of society to primary public service.

Recurrent corruption by regional heads can also serve as a justification to return to the process of regional-head elections by regional legislative councils (DPRD). The reason is that high-cost direct elections have the potential to open the chance of corruption. This discourse has again been underway in the last few weeks, while in fact a number of regional heads elected by the DPRD are also involved in corruption.

Results of a Kompas Research and Development analysis in the course of last week of 139 corruption cases implicating 121 regional heads that were handled by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) indicated that at least 57.6 percent of the regional heads’ corruption cases were directly related to civil rights. These cases concerned regional budget misappropriation and bribery linked to infrastructure, like roads, bridges and schools. Besides, they also involved the health budget.

Several prominent cases were noted in Jombang, East Java. Former Jombang Regent Nyono Suharli Wihandoko was arrested in 2018 by the KPK for corruption connected with Social Security and Healthcare funds. Then, the former regent of Boven Digoel, Papua, Yusak Waluwo, who misused special autonomy funds for regional development was also arrested.

Meanwhile, all of the 16 corruption cases involving regional heads that were handled by the National Police during the period of 2014-2018 were linked to the public service sector.

“Infrastructure development and public service improvement are the basic needs of society. It’s much to be regretted that such cases keep recurring while precautionary measures have been taken,” KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo said in Jakarta last weekend.

Regional development has thus been hampered due to the constraints of less optimal construction of infrastructure like damaged roads or bridges.

According to data, the infrastructure sector is among the major corruption targets of regional heads. Regional development has thus been hampered due to the constraints of less optimal construction of infrastructure like damaged roads or bridges.

Rimawan Pradiptyo, a School of Business (FEB) lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said the public had not only suffered the impact of less optimal development results or inadequate public service, but also had to bear the cost of finances already misused by public officials, including regional heads.

Based on data from FEB-UGM studies, the state losses caused by corruption until the 2001-2015 period totaled Rp 203.9 trillion (US$14.408 billion), whereas the financial punishment imposed on embezzlers was only worth Rp 21.26 trillion or around 10 percent.

According to Rimawan, the difference of the losses incurred was to be borne by the public.

“The public has virtually subsidized the corrupt officials so far,” Rimawan said.

In the meantime, Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin said the corruption cases handled by the Attorney General’s Office were dominated by those that also affected the optimization of public services.

Corruption in Indonesia, he continued, was inseparable from the sector of public service because it had been committed by public officials responsible for development efforts and public service improvement. Development projects later became an easy target, law enforcement staff were no exception, by seizing the prevailing opportunities.

“This will inflict further losses ahead, as law enforcement personnel are also among the perpetrators,” he added.

Reelected

In several cases, regional-head candidates who had once been corruption convicts could be reelected. The regent of Kudus, Central Java, Muhammad Tamzil, for instance, was convicted for corruption involving aid funds for Kudus regency’s educational infrastructure and facilities in 2004.

Tamzil was released in 2015 and ran for regent of Kudus in the 2018 regional elections. Following his reelection, Tamzil had to face another corruption case.

Previously, as a member of the South Kalimantan DPRD, Abdul Latif was detained for a corruption case in the development of new schools in 2005-2006.

The same example was found in the case of inactive Hulu Sungai Tengah regent Abdul Latif, who was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting a bribe in a project for health facilities in Hulu Sungai Tengah. Previously, as a member of the South Kalimantan DPRD, Abdul Latif was detained for a corruption case in the development of new schools in 2005-2006. He joined the 2015 regional elections and was elected Hulu Sungai Tengah regent. He was later held by the KPK in 2018 for a corruption case.

In this conjunction, executive director of the Association for General Elections and Democracy, Titi Anggraini, urged elections organizers to provide sufficient information, including the legal cases of regional-head candidates with the status of ex-convicts.

“Voters will thus be really aware of the consequences of every choice of the candidate they vote for in the voting booth,” she said.

The public should be wiser in exercising its voting right in order to turn out righteous leaders from among poor candidates.

A researcher at the Political Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Moch Nurhasim, said the public should serve as the last guardian, especially amid the poor system of regional-head candidacy and the corrupt behavior of the elite group and political parties, as well as the powerlessness of elections organizers in preventing former corruption convicts from returning as candidates.

“The public’s permissive and indifferent attitude will eventually be harmful because it leads to the denial of civil rights. The public should be wiser in exercising its voting right in order to turn out righteous leaders from among poor candidates,” Nurhasim said. (AGE/SAN/IAN/NIA)