Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta – Corruption charges against politicians and state officials abound, but analysts say they probably have more to do with attacking political foes rather than with eradicating corruption.
House of Representative Speaker and Golkar Party chairman, Akbar Tandjung, was sentenced last week to three years imprisonment over graft charges by the Jakarta High Court in a verdict that has surprised legal experts for its independence.
Whatever the verdict might have been, analysts said it was difficult not to see the political setting surrounding it.
"We seem to be mixing efforts to uphold the law with those to attack political enemies," political analyst Riswandha Imawan of the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Only a year away from the first ever direct presidential elections, the high court verdict has damaged Akbar's chances of winning the race.
It has also put to test the loose coalition between Golkar and the country's biggest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) which President Megawati Soekarnoputri chairs.
Megawati is relying on Golkar to fend off smaller but vocal opposition parties at the legislative branch. Her party has so far refrained from putting pressure on Akbar over the graft scandal, but priorities may have changed with the upcoming election.
Riswandha added the risk of political interference was also high in the work of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).
The state-founded yet independent commission has embarrassed high-ranking officials like Attorney General M. A. Rachman and the three judges who declared bankrupt the Canadian-based insurance firm Manulife, by uncovering their concealed wealth.
Now it plans to summon another 31 state officials over their questionable wealth reports. Among them are Chief Justice Bagir Manan, Golkar chairman Akbar, and Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a Golkar figure and also a deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Also on KPKPN's list is Roy B. B. Janis, chairman of the PDI Perjuangan faction in the legislative body, State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi and former finance minister turned government critic at the People's Assembly, Fuad Bawazier.
But, targeting such names a year ahead of the general election could call into question the commission's independence. "KPKPN should beware of becoming a political tool," said Riswandha.
The commission deputy chairman Abdullah Hehamahua said that KPKPN had operating procedures to minimize chances of outside interference.
So far no political party seems to be benefiting from KPKPN's cases, indicating it may still be acting on its own, said Daniel Sparinga, a political expert of Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java.
"KPKPN doesn't seem to be benefiting anyone probably because most people aren't clean to begin with, and they fear it might be used against them too," he explained.
Just over three years old KPKPN is already facing liquidation after legislators agreed to replace it with an anticorruption commission that lacks KPKPN's powers.
Riswandha said that legislators had actually more leeway in hurling corruption charges through the commission due to their immunity status. The privilege protects legislators against arrests without the president's permission. He added that blowing up corruption cases could become effective in ending one's political career.
The issue was central in the 1998 students reform movement which toppled President Soeharto's three-decade rule.
Still little progress have been made in combating corruption and a 2002 year-end report by the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said the malady had become worse under President Megawati.
It said that any efforts to eradicate corruption "almost never come from above [the government and the House]."