Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – The family of former strongman Suharto and other interests tied to his 32-year regime and its widespread corruption continue to "flourish" in Indonesia and are hindering efforts to combat graft, the World Bank says.
In a damning report detailing the extent of corruption in the world's fourth most populous country, the bank said Indonesia was facing the same problems many transitional democracies in eastern Europe and elsewhere had in recent years.
Its ability to deal with those problems, however, has been constrained by the culture left behind by Mr Suharto when he left office in 1998 as well as a lack of will by governments whose anti-corruption efforts have been "dissipated through poor follow-up and weak implementation." The new report is the latest of many to identify Indonesia's thriving rent-seeking culture. Transparency International earlier this month labelled Indonesia one of the world's most corrupt countries.
Graft is also frighteningly transparent in Indonesia, according to experts. A magazine for lawyers last month published a list detailing the cost – between 10 million rupiah ($1,190) and 5 billion rupiah – of obtaining favourable verdicts in 15 courts around Indonesia.
But the new report highlights the barriers to waging an effective battle against corruption.
With elections looming next year to be contested by political parties with "limited credibility," the bank said, "this is not an environment in which a comprehensive and broad-based strategy to fight corruption can work." Also undermining efforts to fight graft has been the continuing prevalence of "informal rules" and practices "inherited from the New Order regime" of Mr Suharto.
As a result, Mr Suharto's family, the military, and business groups tied to the former president have all been able to take advantage.
"Suharto has gone, but those he favoured continue to flourish, exploiting the many new opportunities to re-establish their power," the bank said. Neither 82-year-old Mr Suharto nor his children have ever been tried for corruption and his children are believed by many to have retained significant business interests. The respected Tempo news magazine reported in July that Tommy Suharto, the youngest son, met regularly with executives of his Humpuss group despite being jailed for a 15-year term for ordering the murder of a judge.
Government efforts to tackle corruption are not completely absent in Indonesia. The World Bank report's release on Monday came alongside a deadline for the first round of nominations for the members of a new anti-corruption commission.
The body, whose creation has long been pushed for by the International Monetary Fund, has been touted by Jakarta as a mainstay of its initiatives against graft. However, corruption experts and even those in charge of choosing its members say there are big questions over how effective the commission can be.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri, analysts charge, has also undermined its creation – which by law must happen by the end of the year – by delaying the appointment of a crucial committee to pick the commission's members.