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Politics of corruption in Indonesia
By Bill Guerin

says he plans to file a new appeal to the Supreme Court.

Another senior PDI-P executive, Theo Toemion, former chief of the Investment Coordinating Agency (BPKM), was sentenced to six years last August on charges of defrauding the state. This month the Supreme Court turned down his request for an appeal hearing.
Shifting sentiments
The lengthening list of high-profile arrests and trials of senior PDI-P members on graft charges is unprecedented in Indonesia's


history. And because Indonesia habitually comes near the top of international corruption rankings for Asia, the KPK's work is winning praise in certain international quarters.

Yet the opposition complaints also come amid the first signs that voter support could be shifting toward the PDI-P. One of the regular polls conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) released on Tuesday showed that Yudhoyono's popularity has dropped to 49%, representing his lowest rating during his two and a half years in office. An LSI survey held two weeks ago showed that 22.6% of the respondents would vote for PDI-P, 16.5% for the Golkar Party and 16.3% for the Yudhoyono's Democrat Party.

The KPK was established while Megawati was still president, though her administration was slow to support the new body. And it's possible that there is a degree of institutional resentment at play.

In March 2004, only weeks after the KPK started its work, Ruki made an urgent appeal for financial assistance from foreign donors because of the lack of funding it received from the government. The Ministry of Justice had then proposed a meager budget of Rp12 billion per year for the KPK, but according to Ruki, that budget had not been allocated, and its top executives had for months gone unpaid.

"We are digging into our own pockets to hire secretaries, drivers and security guards," Ruki was quoted as saying. The KPK's pool of resources at the time consisted of a handful of volunteers assisted by nine police officers, six prosecutors, 15 administrative staff from the State Secretariat and two from the Justice Ministry - all of whom were on temporary loan from the government.

By 2005, the year after Yudhoyono notched an electoral victory over Megawati's PDI-P, Australia, the US and the Asian Development Bank were all contributing funds to keep the KPK afloat. With that assistance, the KPK had hired 180 new employees, including 56 full-time investigators. Last year, Germany pledged 2 million euros (more than $2.6 million) in bilateral aid for a three-year project to support the commission's work. The KPK currently has about 500 staff, and foreign donors finance about 10% of its total budget.

KPK's supporters contend that the body is acting with an even hand, pressing charges across party lines. They point to this month's arrest of Syaukani, the regent of Kutai Kertanegara in East Kalimantan province and also the local Golkar party chairman, who stands accused of three different graft cases totaling about Rp40.75 billion ($4.52 million).

Still, the KPK was widely criticized last year for not prosecuting Justice and Human Rights Minister Awaluddin, a known close friend of Jusuf Kalla. National Election Commission (KPU) member Daan Dimara was jailed for four years over irregularities in the procurement of ballot seals that caused the state to lose Rp3.4 billion. His defense had accused Awaluddin of perjury in his testimony during the trial.

This month, a 50-member legislative commission formally recommended that the KPK take over various unresolved corruption cases from the police and the AGO. Among others were stalled investigations into irregularities related to Bank Indonesia's liquidity support funds, graft allegations at big state-owned companies, including national energy and gas giant Pertamina and national airline Garuda Indonesia, as well as corruption cases involving business people and former mining and forestry officials.

PDI-P legislator Trimedya Panjaitan, who heads the House Commission III on Justice, told the Kompas daily newspaper that there is a systematic government effort under way to snare former PDI-P ministers and that corruption busting has become badly politicized.

Should the KPK take over the various unresolved cases, partisan power politics are likely to intensify in the coming months. And judging by the haste with which Bulog's Puspoyo was taken on, there could be several more PDI-P victims to come.

Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has been in Indonesia for more than 20 years, mostly in journalism and editorial positions. He specializes in Indonesian political, business and economic analysis, and hosts a weekly television political talk show, Face to Face, broadcast on two Indonesia-based satellite channels. He can be reached at softsell@prima.net.id.

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

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