President Issues Another Instruction to Fight Corruption

Jakarta Globe, Camelia Pasandaran | April 06, 2011

The Indonesian government has signaled that it may be finally getting around to cracking down on corruption, though it has a poor record of honoring previous commitments and has set itself a small starting goal.

Yopie Hidayat, spokesman for Vice President Boediono, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was planning to issue a Presidential Instruction on Corruption Prevention and Eradication next month.

“It represents a strong will to combat corruption effectively at all levels and formulate a clear, written set of instructions that should be obeyed by all ministries and other government institutions,” Yopie said at the Vice Presidential Palace.

The statement was made in the presence of most senior government ministers and the chief of police. Yudhoyono, however, was at the State Palace welcoming the prime minister of Fiji.

Yopie, who said Transparency International gave Indonesia a corruption perception index listing of 2.8, said it was hoped the country would have a listing of 3 by the end of the year and hit 4.8 by 2014.

The instruction will be Yudhoyono’s third this year, namely Presidential Instruction to Accelerate Solving Legal Cases and Tax Violations, Presidential Instruction to Accelerate Solving Bank Century Case and Presidential Instruction to Handle Indonesian Citizens in Egypt.

Yopie said the new instruction was an important step because Indonesia was in the process of ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

“This instruction is also a continuation of the previous 2004 Decree on the Acceleration of Corruption Eradication.”

He said it was envisioned that the presidential instruction would contain an action plan detailing 40 points. But this could change, he said.

Yudhoyono has often stated a commitment to combating corruption though most analysts believe the fight against pervasive graft has stalled since he was reelected.

Leaked United States diplomatic cables allege that members of the presidents family, including the first lady, Kristiani Herawati, have attempted to “profit financially from its political position” and that Yudhoyono was guilty of abuse of power.

Yudhoyono has rejected the allegations.