It happens so frequently that expectation does not live up to reality. That is exactly what is happening with the investigation into the corruption scandal surrounding a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games construction project, although the key suspect, Muhammad Nazaruddin, has arrived home after hiding for months abroad and will eventually face the music at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
In contrast to the general public's expectations, his return following his arrest in Cartagena, Colombia, last Saturday, has yet to bring significant progress to the investigation of the scandal, as Nazaruddin turned out to be a different person during and after the questioning by KPK investigators on Thursday. He was surprisingly silent and shied from the media in a departure from his high-profile appearances in a series of video conferences with a number of media outlets while on the run.
It remains unclear what made him so completely tightlipped when asked about Thursday's inquiry by the KPK and his knowledge of the scandal. Many speculate that the former Democratic Party politician may have been compelled to silence by those implicated in his corruption cases. One thing is certain, however: that the questioning was cut short after Nazaruddin claimed he was not feeling well.
On the run overseas for almost three months after being named a suspect, the former chairman of the Democratic Party has dragged party colleagues, the police and KPK officials – including Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, Democratic Party lawmaker Angelina Sondakh, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle lawmaker I Wayan Koster, KPK deputy Chandra M. Hamzah and former National Police chief of Detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi – into the maelstrom by hurling graft accusations at them. All, including Anas, Mallarangeng and Ito, have denied their involvement.
But a statement from his lawyer, Otto Cornelis Kaligis, after the questioning session, saying that Nazaruddin had requested that the KPK move him from the Police's Kelapa Dua Mobile Brigade detention center in Depok, West Java, to the Cipinang detention center in East Jakarta and that he had written to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, chief patron of the Democratic Party, to declare his willingness to bear full responsibility and be imprisoned for the scandal in return for the safety of his wife and three children, tells partly – if not completely – the source of his silence. His request for transfer from a police detention center to a government-run facility shows that Nazaruddin "has not been comfortable" with the treatment he had received at the center.
And his letter to the President, which included a promise not to disclose anything that could damage the image of the Democratic Party, the KPK or the nation, and asked for protection for his family members, has in essence revealed a "high-level" bargaining deal.
As a nation ranked among the five most corrupt countries in the world, such a "win-win political solution" is not what we hoped for. Failure to completely resolve this case will only worsen the country's image and credibility worldwide.