In Jakarta, President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDIP party has come under fire for continuing the corruption that has long been a part of Indonesian political life. But this time the criticisim comes from within her own ranks. Long serving PDIP member and National Development Planning Minister Kwik Kian Gie says the president's party is the most corrupt in the country. The minister has predicted the party will suffer defeat at national elections due next year.

Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald

Speakers: Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning, Kwik Kian Gie; PDIP Central Committee member Supajio Anam; Australian National University lecturer, Doctor Chris Manning; Advisor to the Indonesian President, Mahendra Siregar.

Fitzgerald: It's not the first time Minister Kwik Kian Gie has criticised his own party, he told Asia Pacific Television last year that the corruption of the former President Suharto years, which his party had vowed to stamp out, was alive and well. He said in fact corruption had become harder to police with the departure of Suharto as Suharto at least had kept the practice under tight control.

Kwik Kian Gie: Because during the day of Suharto it was corrupt but the corruption was done by Suharto and his circle. If it is outside, if the people who dare to corrupt, are outside Suharto's circle, Suharto could take harsh measures, but now you can't, because they will scream, "why me, and why not you?"

Fitzgerald: Fellow PDIP party member Supajio Anam puts a positive spin on the Minister's criticism. He says the minister's comments are just are a sign that the PDIP is an open party where such criticism is tolerated.

Anam: Mr Kwik Kian Gie is always very straight and candid in his statements, but perhaps glued up his statement.

Fitzgerald: But he has made these comments before hasn't he?

Anam: Well he has yes, very popular you know, he likes making comments on any problem in Indonesia.

Fitzgerald: Is it acceptable to the party and to the president that Mr Kwik Kian Gie continues to make these comments?

Anam: Well you know Mr Kwik Kian Gie is a liberal minded person. When he makes comments, he's very objective, he's not making any himself or making any slander but he's giving the facts.

Fitzgerald: Mr Anam says it's natural that people would presume that the PDIP, which is now the country's most powerful party, is also the country's most corrupt party.

Anam: Everybody knows that everybody is making corruption in Indonesia and because PDIP at the moment is the government party, it is only obvious that he would believe that the party in power is the most corrupted party.

Fitzgerald: Doctor Chris Manning of the Australian National University agrees it's not that surprising that Indonesia's governing party would be considered the country's most corrupt.

Manning: Those people that have access to the public sector pie, those the greatest access to the public sector pie are those that are going to be taking the highest rewards and of course in that sense, politically, Megawati's party PDIP have the greatest access. So I don't think he's saying anything that new. If Golkar were in power then they would be creaming of the system equally.

Fitzgerald: Economic advisor to the president Mahendra Siregar defends the government's performance on tackling corruption.

Siregar: I think it would be dangerous to believe that corrupt practices have increased in Indonesia, just because you see more and more headlines in the media talking about it, I think it's on the contrary, the openness, the democracy, the transparency that are brought about by the reformasi, by the new openness democratic system in a way provides possibilities for everybody, including the media to find cases of corruption.

Fitzgerald: Mr Siregar claims the government's putting in place institutions, which will make it easier to expose and eradicate corruption. He says a long promised anti-corruption commission will be established this year.

Siregar: Budgets for that commission has been approved and the candidates of the commission have been identified. Now it is more toward the technicalities of the establishment of that commission and we aim the commission would work effectively at the second stage of this, I mean, the second semester of this year. So we are doing as much as we can.

Fitzgerald: The president herself has not publicly defended her party's performance on corruption. She instead has been taking a potshot at Indonesia's four million civil servants who have been pushing for a pay increase, saying Indonesia needs a new clean and more accountable bureaucracy. The civil servants are predominantly the same people who served former president Suharto for so many decades. Back then, they were regularly rewarded for their loyalty by a fixed system of pay-offs. Mr Siregar says this government won't be granting pay rises for civil servants until they raise their standards of professionalism.

Siregar: Because once again this is as a result of reformasi and democratisation, everybody in Indonesia now lives in the glass house. They have to be accountable to actions that they are doing.