Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Activists and observers have urged the public to continue to safeguard efforts to combat corruption, saying Wednesday's rallies commemorating International Anti-Corruption Day should be followed by more real action.
Emerson Juntho from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said rally participants, who were spread across the country and were estimated to number as much as 100,000 people, should not feel satisfied with their mere demonstrations on Wednesday.
"We need follow-up steps; safeguarding the raised issues, lobbying; mere sporadic [rallies] are not enough," Emerson told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He said the rallies' aim of pressuring the government to be more aggressive against graft would be wasted efforts without any follow-up.
Separately, University of Indonesia (UI) law professor Hikmahanto Juwana acknowledged that although sickened by the rampant graft plaguing the country's law enforcement institutions, which should be at the frontline of the battle against graft, there was nothing the public could do to press the authorities to take more real action in the situation, but to continue their vociferations.
Hikmahanto admitted rallies would not be effective, and suggested the public continue with other approaches, such as their support of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chiefs Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah through social-networking site Facebook.
More than a million people joined the group in support of Bibit and Chandra, who were facing an alleged framing that led to their suspension before their recent reinstatement.
"Guaranteeing to freedom of Bibit and Chandra, collecting coins to support Prita [Prita Mulyasari, who recently lost her appeal in a controversial defamation suit]... the public have a unique way [of pursuing change]," said Hikmahanto, who was a member of the presidential fact-finding team that investigated the alleged plot against Bibit and Chandra.
However, Fadjroel Rahman of the Coalition of Anticorruption Civil Societies (Kompak), and a coordinator of Wednesday's nationwide rallies, deemed them a success, given that it managed to draw participants from all parts of society, including various student organizations.
Fadjroel said the fact the rallies ran peacefully, defying the con-cerns of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed over the weekend, was also proof of their success.
"It is Yudhoyono who failed miserably. His concerns and warnings that some of the rallies would be hijacked [by certain 'political motives'] were proven false," he said. "[Yudhoyono] should apologize for that."
Just before the antigraft demonstration, Yudhoyono once again made public his fears of the possibility of a political move to overthrow him behind the veil of anticorruption rallies.
"What are these lies and character assassination against me for? My logic says these political movements want to discredit, shake and topple me in the short term," he said.
Fadjroel added that among Kompak's demands was that the government issue a regulation-in-lieu-of-law to verify that graft suspects' wealth was not acquired through corrupt practices.
He said although the rallies might not be enough to push law enforcement institutions to reform themselves, they were part of antigraft campaigns expected to help society recognize and reject corruption.