Jakarta – Experts at the Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat) of Gadjah Mada University's Law Department concluded Friday in a year-end analysis that 2007 was the gloomiest year ever for corruption eradication, but that this might change in the following year.
Zainal Arifin Muchtar, the head of Pukat, said law enforcement was only able to bring small-scale corruption cases in the regions to justice, but was unable to catch the "big fish" in the central government.
"Most of the corruption cases were conventional mark-ups made by regional public officials, which shows we were only capable of touching the small actors," Zainal told a press conference held at Sultan Hotel in Central Jakarta.
He said 104 of 195 cases dealt with Rp 1 to 10 billion (US$106,394 to US$1.06 million) of government money, and were minor cases compared to what "organized corruption" had been reaping. "Our anticorruption efforts could only detect these small cases, leaving out the untouchables," he said.
Pukat analyzed data from major news sources like Kompas, Media Indonesia, Kedaulatan Rakyat, Tempo and detik.com between Jan. 1 and Dec. 20, 2007.
The analysis suggested the House of Representative's decision to appoint five "troubling" figures to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) indicated the House had very little commitment to fighting corruption.
Saldi Isra of Pukat said the success of corruption eradication was dependent on the President. He predicted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono might do something more serious in 2008.
"He might press the corruption button to improve his image for the coming election," said Saldi. "Then he wouldn't have to spend a lot of money on his campaigns. His achievements alone would gain him more trust from the people."
Saldi said he was unhappy with the President's "traditional way" of resolving three major corruption cases, in which the country's leader resorted to a non-legal approach and settled for simple agreements between the parties involved.
"These cases involved (former KPK chairman) Tafiequrrahman Ruki, (former State Secretary) Yusril Ihza Mahendra and the case between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency," he said.
Denny Indrayana of Pukat said the KPK showed a tendency to aim at "preventing corruption" instead of fulfilling its job of eradicating the problem.
"The head of the Commission implied several times the body was focusing more on preventing corruption. I think this was just their way of getting around their responsibilities," Denny said. (lva)