Four Steps to Prevent Corruption in the Regions

In the Kompas Collaboration Forum-City Leader Community discussion, four steps to improve governance were proposed to prevent corruption in the regions.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN (HAS)

Kompas Collaboration Forum discussion with the theme Good Governance and Lessons from Anti-Corruption Efforts at the Kompas Tower, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/3/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Four steps stakeholders should take to prevent corruption in the regions include regulation, digitalization, education and remuneration. Alleged corruption in the regions occurs within government bureaucracy, and is complex involving many other parties.

During the discussion Good Governance and Learning from Anticorruption Efforts held by the Kompas Collaboration Forum-City Leader Community at the Kompas Tower in Jakarta on Tuesday (7/3/2023), several regional heads expressed their hope that their work would not be disrupted any longer. These regional leaders said that there were law enforcement officers that still investigated them, with some even extorting government officials, on the premise of facilitating a project.

The discussion forum, which was organized by Kompas daily and the Association of Indonesian City Administrations (Apeksi) was attended by 10 mayors and deputy mayors.

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In response to the concerns of several mayors, the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, who attended as the main speaker, said that the government had issued a regulation stating that any ongoing government projects could not be investigated by law enforcement officials. Investigations must first go through the government internal advisory apparatus (APIP) beforehand.

However, in reality, there are law enforcement officials that still get involved in these projects and extort government officials. Mahfud heard that one mayor had been investigated by a law enforcement official, only to be examined again by another official.

This is an issue that must be resolved.

“We are caught in a situation like this. Their intentions are good, law enforcement officials want to be involved to prevent any mistakes, but by being involved, they end up extorting. This is an issue that must be resolved,” said Mahfud.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is aware of this as well. The President gathered state officials, including regional administrators as well as the head of the resort police and the head of the district attorney in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, in January.

However, Mahfud stressed that this phenomenon did not mean that all regional leaders were free from bureaucratic corruption. In the findings of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in 2020, as many as 84 percent of regional heads were funded by investors to run for the regional head elections.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

A mural of public support for the steps taken by the government and law enforcement examines the unusual wealth of state officials in the Bintaro area, Jakarta, Friday (10/3/2023).

As a result, when elected, they would return the favor by licensing corruption. In addition, Transparency International Indonesia found that the most common type of corruption in the bureaucracy is the buying and selling of positions.

Mahfud revealed that apart from the bureaucratic sector, corruption also occurs in three other sectors. First, there is corruption in politics, namely when many politicians double as project intermediaries. Second, there is corruption in the judiciary, which is done through the buying and selling of cases. Third, there is corruption in the legislature, namely in the practice of lobbying to curb or eliminate certain articles in the formation of laws and regulations.

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Bogor Mayor Bima Arya, who also chairs Apeksi, stated that corruption did not only involve collusion between employers and civil servants (ASN), let alone the executive, but also habits and practices that involve many factors. Regional leaders, Bima continued, only found out that law enforcement officials could not partake in projects when it was stated by President Jokowi. However, the question that arises from this is how far down the line will these instructions be complied with.

He pointed out that there are three types of corruption. First is administrative corruption. This means that there is actually no intention to corrupt, but simply falls into corruption due to many gray areas. Second is political corruption, while the third is economic corruption.

Four steps

According to Bima, there are four things that must be done to tackle corruption in the bureaucracy. First, regulations must be issued as circulars to serve as a guideline, which starts from the Attorney General to the section heads of the district attorney’s office. The same should be done for the National Police chief to the police resort heads.

The second step is digitalization. Bima explained that while electronic catalogs are very helpful, the issue is how to integrate them with the integrity values of each party. The third step is the development of human resources that not only focuses on executives, but also prosecutors and the police.

The fourth step, which addresses a very important issue but regional heads are often reluctant to voice, is remuneration. In reality, regional heads receive a lawful salary made up of three components, namely a base salary of no more than Rp 7 million (US$453) per month, honorariums for accountability letters and others, as well as tax incentives.

Don’t let this come off as just regional heads wanting a raise.

“It’s not that we want a raise in salary, but we at least want to work quietly and be appreciated for it. It’s a ticking time bomb. Someone has to have the courage to speak up. However, don’t let this come off as just regional heads wanting a raise. No. The ASN remuneration policy must be comprehensive and logical, starting from the highest echelon to the lowest,” said Bima.

If these four steps are implemented, Gorontalo Mayor Marten Taha believed that the loopholes that allow corruption to occur could be closed. However, the most important issue is that the central government, the National Police chief and the Attorney General draw up strict regulations so that law enforcement officials will no longer get involved in government projects.

Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi concurred with Bima and Marten, adding that stricter regulations should be in place so that no party could investigate government officials if they had already been investigated by APIP. Additionally, the gaps in corruption in the bureaucracy could also be closed by optimizing digitalization, starting with public services. (BOW/DEA/PDS/DAN/GIO)

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.