Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Rizky Amelia & Ronna Nirmala – Politicians and antigraft activists have been left scratching their heads over claims by Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam of corruption between legislators and officials in three ministries, but for different reasons.
While members of the House of Representatives balk at the notion of collusion, and even point to pre-election intrigue, activists contend that the practice is so common that everyone is already aware of it.
Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, deputy chairman of House Commission I, overseeing foreign and defense affairs, denied on Sunday that there was any kind of collusion between his commission and the Defense Ministry, one of the three ministries reportedly identified by Dipo in a report filed last Wednesday with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
"We at Commission I don't know anything about any collusion by anyone with regard to budget discussions," Agus said. "Whatever is agreed on and later formalized is done based on the funding request from the ministry and is comprehensively covered in the press."
He argued that it made no sense to accuse legislators of marking up funding in order to take kickbacks, saying that if anything, House Commission I had a long record of slashing defense budget requests.
He cited a controversial plan by the Defense Ministry to buy Leopard tanks from Germany, pointing out that it was the House that had uncovered and subsequently cut out the ministry's planned use of a broker, thereby bringing down the cost of the purchase.
Agus also denied that the House was involved in farming out government contracts in exchange for kickbacks.
"All we do is approve the equipment that the ministry wants to buy," he said. "For instance, if they want to buy computers, we'll talk about the specs and so on, but beyond that we have nothing to do with the purchase of the computers. As far as we're concerned, the government can by Apples or Acers or Samsungs or whatever meets their specifications."
All the president's men
Dipo's report to the KPK, in which he also reportedly fingered the Agriculture Ministry and the Trade Ministry, follows on a memo he released in later September in which he prohibited collusion between government institutions and politicians.
Commission I legislator Tjahjo Kumolo said the move highlighted growing disorder in the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Tjahjo, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said he was surprised to hear from presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha that Dipo, a close Yudhoyono confidant, had not even consulted with the president before filing his report with the KPK.
"So I'm confused. Why is there an increasing sense of chaos in the administration? Why are the president's men slugging it out with each other in full view of the public?" he said.
He argued that as the cabinet secretary, it was Dipo's job to ensure harmony among the ministers, and to bring any spats to the attention of the president. "But it looks like [Dipo] is ignoring the president and wreaking havoc in the cabinet," he said.
Tjahjo claimed it was apparent that Dipo was trying to publicly humiliate Yudhoyono in a bid to boost his own popularity. Yudhoyono's term in office ends in 2014, with no clear front-runner emerging to replace him. Dipo, however, has not said whether he was considering a run.
Tjahjo called on House Commission II, overseeing domestic affairs, to call in Dipo, Julian and Sudi Silalahi, the state secretary, to testify about the collusion claim. He said it was important to get a clear picture from the president's inner circle about what was really going on.
"We need to figure out what game is being played out at this level of government. If those closest to the president are out to promote themselves, that would be highly inappropriate," he said.
Stating the obvious
Antigraft activists have also received Dipo's report of collusion with a degree of skepticism, but for a whole other set of reasons.
Yuna Farhan, secretary general of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said the illicit practice was "nothing unusual" and that it was rife throughout the government.
"I don't think Dipo's actions or statements highlight anything particularly special. He's just confirming what we've all known for so long," he said.
He cited a number of high-profile graft cases currently being investigated by the KPK at other ministries, including the procurement of Korans by the Religious Affairs Ministry and the construction of the Hambalang Sports Center and facilities for last year's Southeast Asian Games by the Sports Ministry. "All those cases involved high-level collusion between the ministries and legislators," Yuna said.
A Sports Ministry official and a Democratic Party legislator have been jailed in the SEA Games case, while another Democrat is standing trial in the same case. Similarly, a Golkar Party legislator has been named a suspect in the Koran case.
Yuna argued that Dipo had the power to do more in tackling collusion than simply reporting it to the KPK. "He should fix the things that are wrong in the system. The whole system of government budget planning must be made more transparent so that everyone can see what's going on," he said.
He said the change should start with the Finance Ministry, which distributes funding to the other ministries once the House has approved the budget. "With greater transparency on the Finance Ministry's part, everyone will be able to see where the money goes and whether there are any markups," Yuna said.
Din Syamsuddin, head of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization, also played down the significance of Dipo's allegation. "While I support his move to file a report with the KPK, I must remind the KPK that it has bigger cases that it shouldn't forget. It shouldn't get sidetracked by what could very well be a diversion," he said.