"Indonesia on execution spree", reads the headline of a wire service reporting on six such executions in the past month. Six is already six too many for the anti-capital punishment camp. But wait, there's more. If the news last week is to be believed there will be as many as five more facing the firing squad before Ramadhan, the Islamic fasting month which begins early September.

As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Indonesia retains the death penalty in its legal system. The United Nations' covenant does not require member states to abolish the death sentence, but it strongly encourages its abolition. Under the convention, the death sentence may be imposed only for "the most serious crimes".

The debate on capital punishment in Indonesia today is not so much about whether it should or shouldn't be abolished, but more about the "most serious" crimes which could be punishable by death.

Capital punishment is here to stay in Indonesia for the foreseeable future. Last year, a petition to abolish the penalty (made by people convicted to death for drug offenses) was rejected by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the sentence is a legitimate part of the Indonesian legal system.

The six executed in the past month included two serial murderers, a woman and her son who killed an entire family of five, and two Nigerian drug traffickers. And the Attorney General's Office says five people convicted for the terrorist bombings in Bali in 2002 will likely be executed before Ramadhan.

Timing is always essential. It would be "Un-Islamic" to take the lives of others during Ramadhan. It would also be too controversial for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who essentially signs the death warrants when he rejects their clemency appeals, to allow for executions to take place close to the general elections next year. Some of the executions, certainly the Bali bombers, could easily be used by his opponents against him in the election campaigns.

The anti-capital punishment camp in the country is still too weak to mount any serious challenge. There was the regular 11th hour appeal from Amnesty International and local human rights organizations for a stay of executions, but other than that there was little public opposition to the six so far this month.

There is the widely publicized letter by an Australian man, whose son was among 212 killed in the Bali bombing, appealing to the Indonesian government not to go ahead with the executions of the five convicted terrorists. There is also the attempt by their lawyers to demand a review of the cases, but as far as the legal system is concerned, the five had already exploited every possible avenue for a stay of executions.

Clemency is unlikely since they have never shown remorse – their execution is just a matter of time.

Public debate about capital punishment in Indonesia instead took a different twist over the past few weeks as these executions were being planned or carried out.

Some members of the public are demanding that corruption too be punishable by death. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has dismissed the idea completely, but President Yudhoyono, at least according to his spokesman, welcomed a discourse on the issue while not necessarily supportive of the idea.

The fact there is such strong public sentiment reflects the gravity of the corruption problem, particularly the perceived failure of the legal system to prevent it. Despite the dozens of convictions of high profile corruption cases in the last five years, in the public eye, these are not strong enough as deterrence to stop others from their corrupt practices.

It also tells us that some of these "corruptors" are making a complete mockery of our justice system; many got off with light sentences (after hiring top notch lawyers to defend them in court) and they know they will walk free after a few years or even months to enjoy the loot afterwards.

Nothing less than death for these people would satisfy the public thirst for justice.

The demand for death penalty for corruption tells us more about the growing public frustration that, when it comes to dealing with such cases, our justice system seems completely impotent. It also seems not so much whether the death penalty is a strong enough deterrent, as this has become an outlet for the community to let off its frustration at the prevalence of the corruption problem.

Indonesia could turn to China and Vietnam to see how capital punishment is being applied to stop graft. Have they succeeded? Is it part of their "economic miracle" narrative? Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from these two countries that seem to be enjoying double digit economic growth while we are perpetually being held back by rampant corruption.

Since Indonesia has capital punishment in its books and since we have no intention of abolishing it any time soon, we may as well expand its use to include corruption, which in Indonesia seems serious enough to be at least on par with serial murder, terrorism and drug trafficking.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the anti-graft campaign will finally take us somewhere.