Letter: PDI-P and BI graft case

Tue, 09/02/2008 10:16 AM | Reader's Forum

The Jakarta Post (Aug. 21) reported that the Indonesian Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has decided to limit its immediate response to the new Bank Indonesia (BI) corruption case, involving the apparent payment of bribes to PDI-P legislators in connection with the 2004 appointment of Miranda Goeltom as Second Deputy BI Governor, to expelling Agus Condro Prayitno from the party.

This is on the basis that Agus has admitted to receiving Rp 500 million (US$54,347) from a senior PDI-P figure in return for agreeing to support Goeltom's candidature. PDI-P will not, however, be taking any action, at least for the time being, against the other four PDI-P members who Agus claims also received bribe payments at the same time as he did nor against the senior PDI-P official who Agus claims made the bribe payment to him and to the others. PDI-P's response is absolutely pathetic and leads inexorably to the conclusion that PDI-P has no serious commitment to cleaning up the seemingly pervasive corruption in its ranks.

It is quite revealing that the reason PDI-P Secretary General Pramono Anung gives for the decision to expel Agus from the party is that Agus "has tarnished PDI-P's image" ahead of the 2009 elections.

This obviously suggests that PDI-P's real concern about Agus' actions is not that it was corrupt and a major breach of the laws of Indonesia but, rather, that it has caused PDI-P some inconvenience in its electioneering efforts as PDI-P tries to credibly present itself to the people of Indonesia in the run-up to the 2009 presidential elections as being worthy of governing the country.

Meanwhile, as further evidence of the PDI-P's cynical focus on "damage control" instead of respect for the law, Pramono has rushed to the support of the other four PDI-P members implicated by Agus, stating categorically "the people whose names he *Agus* mentioned did not receive any money". How does Pranomo know this for sure?

Pramono clearly wishes to suggest that Agus was just one, lone, bad guy amongst all the otherwise corruption-free, decent, honorable and law-abiding PDI-P legislators. What a "pretty", if wholly unconvincing (at least to the writer), picture Panomo seeks to paint.

Surely, if PDI-P was really interested in finding out the truth, it would, at the very least, conduct a thorough internal investigation of Agus' claims and/or suspend the other four legislators, not to mention the senior PDI-P official who is said to have made the payment to Agus, pending any KPK action.

WILLIAM A. SULLIVAN
Jakarta

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