T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally kept its word and arrested former youth and sports minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng for his role in a graft case centering on the construction of Hambalang Sports Center in the southern part of Jakarta. KPK chairman Abraham Samad had said earlier that the antigraft body would detain Andi after the Idul Fitri holidays, which fell in August.

The arrest on Thursday came after the KPK received a thorough audit from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that the BPK had performed on the Hambalang project. It also followed the antigraft body'€™s arrest of then Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar for allegedly accepting bribes related to regional election results in several regencies and municipalities.

The detention of Andi and Akil is a slap in the face for two major political parties: the Golkar Party and the ruling Democratic Party.

For the Constitutional Court, the arrest of Akil, a former Golkar politician, should mark the beginning of reform, particularly in terms of supervision.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a government regulation in lieu of law on the court'€™s reform, which includes a requirement that a justice candidate must not have links to political parties for seven years prior to nomination. The regulation also stipulates the formation of a permanent disciplinary council to conduct oversight of the justices.

This well-intentioned reform, however, may be scuppered by the House of Representatives, which has the right to reject or approve the regulation within the next month.

Following Andi'€™s arrest the public will now be wondering if he will dare spill the beans to KPK investigators and lead the antigraft body to other suspects.

However, Andi, who was named a suspect in late December 2012, refused to comment on that possibility. It has been alleged former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum received money from illicit donors for his campaign to become party chief, as had Andi. Anas has also been named a suspect in the case, but remains at large.

The Hambalang case centers around a budget mark-up from Rp 300 billion (US$26.1 million) to Rp 2.5 trillion during Andi'€™s term as sports minister for the construction of the national multi-sports training center. The BPK audit revealed that the total state losses resulting from the graft case amounted to Rp 463.66 billion.

Aside from Andi, the KPK had named two other suspects; former planning bureau chief of the Youth and Sports Ministry Deddy Kusdinar for his role as a planning officer in the Hambalang project, and former operations director of PT Adhi Karya, Teuku Bagus Mukhamad Noor.

Spokesman for the Mallarangeng family, Rizal Mallarangeng, said they were disappointed that the KPK had locked up an innocent man. Outspoken Democratic Party politician Ruhut Sitompul, however, warned that Anas should prepare himself for an arrest.

Despite the feeling of gratification that the KPK is continuing its successful streak of uncovering high-profile corruption cases, such arrests leave a lingering question among the people: '€œHow many more?'€

A year into their term of office, Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama are regarded as having brought about changes in the capital'€™s bureaucracy but still unable to address major problems in the city, especially traffic congestion.

Around half of 400 respondents polled in an Indo Barometer survey said Jokowi had not made any difference compared to his predecessors, Sutiyoso and Fauzi Bowo, in solving traffic gridlock. Jokowi was also seen as having failed to provide good public transportation for Jakarta residents.

The survey revealed that 64.3 percent of respondents blamed the high volume of private vehicles for the congestion '€” blaming it on more affordable new cars '€” and according to 26 percent of those surveyed, the most reasonable solution was to limit the number of vehicles allowed on the streets.

City councilors meanwhile claimed that Jokowi and Ahok had not introduced any new programs of their own as many of the programs were simply inherited from their predecessors, such as the health program and the construction of the MRT (mass rapid transit) and the monorail.

The decision to start work on these mega projects has raised concerns that the construction will only worsen the already jammed thoroughfares of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, and many doubt whether the new transportation system will carry many more passengers than those already using TransJakarta buses.

The new leaders, however, have been praised for their success in persuading illegal squatters at several city reservoirs to move into more decent, low-cost, apartments. They have also persuaded street vendors to stop using the city'€™s sidewalks and to sell their wares inside the traditional markets located only steps away from their original trading pitches.

Although many hope that Jokowi will see out his full term as governor, given that he has been tipped as a potential candidate for next year'€™s presidential election, he might not be able to finish what he and Ahok have started. And if Jokowi eventually nominates himself as a presidential candidate, the next question is: Would Jakarta people accept Ahok as their new leader?

'€“ Primastuti Handayani