Govt to Enact Regulation Requiring All Public Officials to Disclose Wealth

Jakarta Globe, Carlos Paath, Jan 27, 2015

Rupiah notes and US dollar bills being counted at a Bank Negara Indonesia
branch on Jan. 26, 2015. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)

Jakarta. The Indonesian government is set to enact a regulation mandating public officials on all levels to disclose their wealth, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi said on Tuesday.

“We will issue a letter from the ministry mandating all officials without exception to disclose their wealth,” he said.

Currently, only ministers, directors general, division heads, generals, leaders of independent bodies and directors of state-owned companies are mandated by law to disclose their wealth.

The asset declarations are submitted to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to be scrutinized before and after they hold office.

Yuddy said the new requirement would be for officials on all levels.

“This [requirement] will also apply to military and police officers. Because it is proven that corruption not only involves high-ranking officials but also middle- and even lower-ranking ones,” he said. “This is a way to prevent acts of corruption.”

The declarations will be submitted to his ministry and the KPK and will be used for administrative evaluation purposes, although Yuddy did not rule out their use in legal cases.

Failure to disclose their assets may result in a stay in promotion. “So all officials who want to get promoted must follow [the new regulation],” the minister said.

Yuddy said the asset declaration drawn up by his ministry will be simpler than those designed by the KPK for top ranking officials.

“Just two pages,” he said of his ministry’s version of an asset declaration form. The form will require all officials to list among others the properties they own, their values and also how much money they have in their bank accounts.

Yuddy said that once the requirement was enacted, he wanted all public officials to immediately disclose their wealth.

“The most important thing is that they disclose [their assets first],” the minister said, adding that each ministry will then make the necessary confirmations and corrections.