M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Legislators have given qualified support to the government's plan to issue a regulation that would protect officials from prosecution for erroneous policies, after many nervous civil servants refused to make decisions.
Members of House Commission III on law and human rights Taufiqurrachman Saleh of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Panda Nababan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the policy would only be plausible if it was aimed at boosting the officials' performance instead of protecting corrupt practices.
"We realize that the anti-corruption drive by the law enforcers has most of the time gone too far so that it discourages government officials from executing their policies," Taufiqurrachman told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said there were numerous cases in which regents complained about anxiety at using the budget from the central government due to fears of being accused of corruption.
Panda said the regulation would only be effective if the government consulted law enforcers, especially the Attorney General's Office, before it took effect.
"But I doubt if the Vice President has consulted the AGO," Panda said, referring to Jusuf Kalla who first floated the controversial idea.
Addressing a Golkar Party function on Sunday, Kalla said that the government was preparing a regulation that would protect government officials, including governors, regents and local councillors, against prosecution for implementing their policies.
Kalla said that if government officials made a wrong policy, they could only be tried by the state administrative court.
"We want to differentiate what is policy and what is crime. If the policy is wrong then its maker should be subject to state administrative court and not criminal court," Kalla said.
Kalla said the legislation was planned because under the existing laws, state officials are highly susceptible to legal action for any action they took. Consequently, few officials will accept development projects and development has come to a standstill due to the official inertia in many areas.
He said once the new policy takes effect, it would be more difficult for state officials to be arrested for policy-related offenses. Kalla said the new regulation would only need formal approval from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take effect.
Some have said the regulation would protect the bulk of Golkar Party members who elected for office.
Following an intensified anti-corruption drive by the Yudhoyono administration, increasing numbers of government officials have been arrested and put on trial.
Since 2004, Yudhoyono has allowed seven governors and 60 regents/mayors to be investigated for corruption cases. Prosecutors throughout the country have also launched investigations into 735 members of city councils and 327 provincial councillors.