Jakarta – The Golkar Party has lashed out at Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam for releasing a list of the country's most corrupt political parties and putting Golkar at the top of the list.
Deputy secretary general of Golkar Nurul Arifin said that Dipo had acted in an unethical manner and that he had gone beyond his authority by releasing the data.
"It is not his role or authority. This is also unethical because only the Home Ministry has that authority," Nurul said over the weekend, as quoted by tribunnews.com. Nurul said that even the Home Ministry never made an attempt to associate corrupt officials with political parties to which they belonged.
Late last week, Dipo released data on a list of government officials and members of local legislative councils that had been implicated in graft cases throughout the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's two terms, the first of which started in 2004.
Dipo based his findings on 176 letters that Yudhoyono issued to allow legal enforcement agencies to investigate the involvement of government officials in alleged graft cases and other criminal charges.
Data from the State Secretariat said that 131 individuals, or 74.43 percent, were investigated for alleged roles in graft and 25.29 percent for roles in regular criminal cases.
The State Secretariat further revealed that 64 officials, or 36.36 percent, being investigated came from Golkar. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) came in second with 32 individuals or 18.18 percent and the Democratic Party came in third with 20 individuals or 11.36 percent.
The list also revealed that politicians from almost all major political parties were implicated in graft cases. Four Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politicians, for instance, were being investigated in graft cases, according to the list.
Dipo said the list showed that there were parties that were more corrupt that Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. "This is the reality. So is it fair if we are deemed as the most corrupt political parties while others are considered clean?" he asked.
Dipo apparently made the list as a follow-up to a statement made by Yudhoyono in July, who accused state officials and politicians of being involved in graft cases.
"If you are aware that your subordinates have misappropriated or misused the state budget in connivance with politicians, but do nothing to stop or prevent it, you must share the guilt," the President told a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office on June 19.
"Such actions are conspiratorial. I have credible information but I want to leave it for the law enforcement bodies, especially the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] to handle," Yudhoyono added.
PKS lawmaker Indra said that Dipo had made the wrong move by releasing the data. "This gives the impression that this government institution is a non-governmental organization or graft watchdog," he said.