Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A House of Representatives commission and an alliance of non-government organizations have slammed the government for resisting the inclusion of state enterprises into the bill on free flow of information.
The group accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of lacking commitment to establish good governance and combat corruption.
The House and the alliance said all 139 state enterprises did not belong to the government, but to the state, and were part of public institutions subject to audits aimed at maintaining their accountability.
Deputy chairman of the House's defense, information and foreign affairs commission Arief Mudatsir Mandan said in a joint press conference here Wednesday the President still considered state enterprises part of the government.
"Such a culture must be phased out and state enterprises are subject to public audits to ensure their transparency and their competitiveness in the global market," Arief said.
State enterprises have been tasked to carry out the government's economic development programs but have at the same time been covertly treated as cash cows for government officials.
Legislator Abdillah Toha said the commission was open to compromises on many other issues, but not on strategic efforts to improve state enterprises' contribution to the people and the state.
"Most factions at the commission will give no political concession to the government on this crucial issue and let the public give their opinion and aspirations," he said.
In previous meetings, State Minister of State Enterprises Sofyan A. Djalil said state enterprises could not be freely accessed by the public because other than being part of the government, their transparency could jeopardize their competitiveness in domestic and global markets.
An alliance of NGOs, including the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the SET Foundation, the Institute of Press Studies and Development (LSPP), Impartial, Kontras, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and All-Indonesian Workers Union (OPSI), said the government's stance on state enterprises was against Law No. 19/2003 on State Enterprises, Law No. 17/2003 on State Finance and Law No. 15/2006 on Supreme Audit Agency.
Ridaya Laodengkowe and Agus Sudibyo, both spokesmen for the alliance, said the proposed exemption of state enterprises from public institutions was not acceptable from a legal, economic or political point of view.
"Politically, the government has never been transparent with its policy on state enterprises, particularly when it wants to privatize certain enterprises which should secure approval from the parliament," Ridaya said.
State enterprises had to be transparent, particularly to the parliament's control, to ensure their contribution to the people and to the state, he said.
Agus asked the House to hold a consultation meeting with the President to settle the crucial issue because it was too risky to leave it to a minister – despite the latter's position as a representative of the government in the bill's deliberation.
Both Ridaya and Agus said state enterprises' disclosure was not against the capital market law which required the 15 listed state enterprises to remain open for public access.