M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Of the more than 100,000 state officials nationwide required by the Anticorruption Law to report their personal wealth to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), only half have complied, the commission says.
A new KPK report says that of the 107,144 state officials who must submit wealth reports, only 57,419 or 53.5 percent had done so by March 24.
Members of the judiciary represent the largest percentage of officials evading the obligation, with only 42 percent of 18,020 divulging their wealth. Many members of the judiciary are believed to be notoriously corrupt, and reform at the institution has moved at snail's pace.
Second to the judiciary in the non-compliance stakes, are the executive branches of government, with only 49 percent of 57,828 government officials submitting reports to the KPK.
The most surprising finding, however, is the level of compliance shown by state officials at state and regional companies, bodies notorious for being ridden with graft. Of 7,089 officials working at numerous state companies, an impressive 69 percent have reported their personal wealth.
Lawmakers at the House of Representatives and local councils, meanwhile, have submitted the most wealth reports. Of 24,207 lawmakers in the country, 16,439 or 67 percent have sent documentation to the KPK.
The general election law requires all candidates vying for seats at legislative bodies to submit the reports to be eligible to run for office. The 2002 Corruption Law, meanwhile, gives the KPK the authority to require all powerful government officials to report their wealth.
The law, however, does not set a deadline for the reports. Nor does it stipulate any penalties, should the officials fail to make the reports. Unsurprisingly, compliance has been less than stellar, and a large number of ministers and officials from previous administrations have yet to submit the information.
To complicate matters, the Office of the Minister for Administrative Reforms recently issued a regulation requiring state officials at all levels, including low-paid village heads, to submit reports.
There are now additional 37,000 officials required to send the reports to the KPK, creating another potential paper mountain for the commission.
Of the thousands of documents received by KPK, it has completed probes on 15 of 59 reports it said contained irregularities. However, the KPK has only launched full-scale investigations into two dubious explanations.
The commission has also completed its investigation of five officials alleged to have received gifts worth more than Rp 10 million (US$1,113.2). About Rp 83 million in cash has been confiscated from the officials who received the gifts.
KPK deputy chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said the reports would not instantly help the government's antigraft drive. "However, they will be very valuable for prosecutors once the principle of shifting the burden of proof (onto corruption suspects) is made law," he said.