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.