Corruption is spreading like a viral contagion from the center to the regions.
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·3 minutes read
Kompas/Alif Ichwan
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Basaria Panjaitan (right) and KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah (left back) together with KPK investigators at a press conference at the KPK building in Jakarta, on Wednesday display evidence in the form of Rp 4.7 billion in cash in connection with a raid in Jambi. The KPK has named four people suspects, including a Jambi official and regional legislative council (DPRD) member, in the 2018 regional budget bribery case.
The factors that have driven corruption include inconsistent law enforcement and the low morals of those people who should have been role models.
Taufiequrachman Ruki pointed this out in 2004, after he was appointed as the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Corruption can also occur because the state administrative system is prone to corruption. A person can commit corruption not because they are bad, but partly because they have unknowingly entered a systemic cycle that is bad and wrong.
His warning became relevant when this daily published an article titled "Beware the Mass Plunder of the Regional Budget" on Wednesday (29/11). In Jambi and Jakarta, the KPK detained 10 members of the Jambi Legislative Council (DPRD) who were believed to have been involved in bribery in the approval of the 2018 Jambi provincial budget. The KPK also confiscated billions of rupiah in cash.
The corruption case, which allegedly implicates members of the Jambi DPRD members, comes as no surprise. Since the KPK was formed in 2004 in line with Law No. 30/2002, 134 House of Representatives (DPR) and DPRD members have been involved in corruption as of Sept. 30, 2017. The fact has become a growing concern because during the same period, 18 governors/former governors and 60 regents/mayors or their deputies and former deputies, were also found to have been involved in corruption.
In 2005, 43 West Sumatra DPRD members from the 1999-2004 period were tried for corruption; all were sent to prison. However, members of the legislative, executive and judiciary, as well as businessmen, continue to engage in corrupt behavior.
The high costs of becoming public representatives and regional heads have frequently been cited as reasons for politicians engaging in corruption. For example, hundreds of millions or billions of rupiah are needed to become DPRD members at the city, regency, or provincial level. In fact, Government Regulation No. 18/2017 on the Financial and Administrative Rights of DPRD Speakers and Members sets gross salaries of Rp 10 million to Rp 80 million per month, before the deduction of party contributions or funding in their electoral districts. They must also repay their campaign capital through projects in the Regional Budget. This happens in nearly all regions.
Opportunities for "outsmarting" the Regional Budget are rife, because the budget requires DPRD approval, not merely the approval of regional heads. A similar condition also exists in the central government. Corruption is spreading like a viral contagion from the center to the regions.
The system has not been fully repaired. Accelerating corruption eradication remains a discourse. Law enforcement has not become a deterrent. The punishment for corruption convicts remains light, and several have received sentences of less than one year.
There is no other way: continuous education is necessary so the people elect representatives who are not corrupt. Anticorruption commitment in government circles also must be established. Those committing corruption need to be shamed or given additional sanctions.
