The widely-publicized allegation of a plot to frame Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders brings with it the potential for bureaucratic reform, thus raising hopes for a better investment climate, a seminar concludes.
A University of Indonesia expert in investment management, Avanti Fontana, told a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday that although it was difficult to predict the case’s short term impact on the amount of investment in the country, she was definitely hopeful for improvements in the future.
“It all comes down to how this case will end. Should it force a further push for reforms in the country’s bureaucracy and legal system, it will, in the long run, have a positive impact on the investment climate in Indonesia,” she said.
Avanti added that political stability and legal security are important factors in determining the willingness of foreign businesses to invest.
She cited a World Economic Forum study that placed Indonesia 71st out of 134 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2009.
Potential investors, she said, often used the study as a reference before investing.
“What is interesting about this study is that it highlights well-functioning public institutions as a factor in influencing the improvement of a country’s investment climate,” she added.
Avanti also said this fact relates closely to the two law enforcement institutions, the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office, currently at the center of public attention after members were either named or allegedly involved in wiretapped recordings of an alleged plot to frame the KPK’s suspended deputy chairmen, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah.
Effendi Ghozali, a political communication expert from the university, said he believed that people’s trust in the two institutions had significantly decreased after the case emerged publicly.
Setara Institute director, Hendardi, said that if the police and the Attorney General’s Office wanted to regain the public’s trust, they would have to cooperate in investigating the case thoroughly.
“They should not focus only on the case of Bibit and Chandra. They have to investigate the case’s connection with the corruption cases in the Forestry Ministry, in which Anggoro Widjojo and former minister MS Kaban are allegedly involved, and also its connection to the Bank Century debacle,” he said.
National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri had previously said that the KPK had closed a Forestry Ministry corruption case allegedly involving former forestry minister MS Kaban and businessman Anggoro Widjojo.
A fact-finding team established by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also mentioned the possibility of a connection between the case that has implicated Bibit and Chandra and the government’s Rp 6.76 trillion (US$718 million) Bank Century bailout scheme.
Hendardi said it was high time that Yudhoyono intervened.
“If he allows this to continue it will further decrease the public’s trust,” he added.
Effendi urged the President to use the case to provide momentum to reform the country’s bureaucracy and ensure legal security.
“We need certainty. Today, it is certain that the bureaucracy in this country is corrupt; this will have to change,” he said.
According to a recent survey by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International, the police, the AGO, and the courts are among Indonesia’s most corrupt institutions. (adh)
