Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With the fight against corruption under the President hitting its stride a year ahead of elections, politicians and observers on Friday accused the efforts of being politically motivated and discriminative.
They pointed to a series of investigations into graft cases targeting politicians in potential competition with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, saying politicians or officials linked to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) had felt the brunt of the anti-graft campaign.
PDI-P politician Gayus Lumbuun expressed fear that other parties would now only wait for their turn to be publicly humiliated when their members were arrested for graft cases.
"We can feel the anti-corruption drive is both politicized and discriminative. If you look at people arrested or accused of corruption, none have affiliations with the President," Gayus, a member of the House commission overseeing legal affairs, told The Jakarta Post.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested scores of politicians and officials in 2008, the latest being Al Amin Nasution of the PPP for allegedly receiving a bribe from Bintan government officials.
Last month, the KPK arrested former Riau governor Saleh Djasit, a Golkar lawmaker. The KPK is now probing a case involving the misuse of BI funds that implicates other politicians, including Bomer Pasaribu of Golkar, Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P, Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Andi Rahmat of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
Democratic Party lawmaker Aziddin was dismissed in July 2006 for allegedly acting as a middleman in the procurement of dormitories and meals for Indonesian haj pilgrims, but the Yudhoyono government opted not to launch a formal investigation into the case.
Former People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais joined the criticism, saying Yudhoyono had failed to clean up his own office. "I am sure the heart of corruption is located at the palace," he was quoted as saying by Antara on Friday.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, however, dismissed the accusations, underlining that it was since Yudhoyono took office that the government had taken corruption eradication seriously.
"Before Yudhoyono, corruptors were immune from law enforcement. But now we can see all people ranging from regents, mayors, governors, high-ranking officials or even lawmakers arrested. Let people decide who is really serious in eradicating corruption," he said.
Political expert Indra J. Pilliang of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, however, declined to give credit to Yudhoyono in the fight against corruption.
"The credit should go to the KPK. The President has nothing to do with this as the KPK is an independent body. With the Attorney General's Office and the police failing in anti-corruption efforts, how we can say Yudhoyono is successful in eradicating corruption?" he said.
He said even the KPK upheld discrimination, pointing to the failure of the anti-graft body to name former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of Yudhoyono's son, as a suspect in the Rp 100 billion BI graft case.