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ven though asset declaration is by law compulsory for all candidates who will contest the direct elections for nine provincial governors, 224 regents and 36 mayors on Dec. 9, that requirement is not sufficient to ensure that all candidates standing for election possess high standards of integrity and probity.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is responsible for examining asset declaration forms filed by candidates, simply does not have adequate resources to verify the data. Moreover, enforcement of the mandatory asset declaration has so far been quite weak and rather perfunctory because the regulation does not stipulate clear-cut provisions on administrative and criminal penalties.

The problem of corruption among regional leaders has now reached a critical point. Latest official reports from the Home Ministry showed that 60 percent, or more than 260 regional government leaders, are either serving prison sentences for corruption, facing trial as defendants or are under investigation as graft suspects.

The experiences of other countries show that compulsory asset declaration can serve as a strong deterrent to corruption and tax evasion only if wealth reports are properly verified and crosschecked against tax returns and data at the real estate registry, and if those who do not report their assets are liable to administrative and criminal penalties.

True, public disclosure of assets also allows civil society organizations and media to monitor the integrity of senior public officials and sets the pressure of public opinion on those found to substantially and unjustly enrich themselves. But again this is not sufficient, in view of the increasingly sophisticated ways in which ill-gotten money can be laundered.

If the government is really serious about selecting the best candidates for direct regional elections, the tax directorate general should be instructed to assist the KPK in examining wealth or asset records through tax audits. The audits of the candidates'€™ individual tax returns, and crosschecking them against their respective wealth or assets reports, could easily establish whether the candidates possess impeccable integrity.

Moreover, honesty in filling out tax returns is one of the key indicators not only of a citizen'€™s strong commitment to fulfilling civic duties to the state but also his or her integrity and level of probity.

The annual income tax return documents are also quite complete because they outline taxpayer data covering not only an individual'€™s tax payment records but also all their financial and fixed assets such as deposits at banks, bonds, investments, cars, houses, etc.

Hence, the examination of candidates'€™ integrity would be more complete if the tax audit process could also crosscheck the tax returns and asset reports against their bank accounts. Examining only the annual tax returns would not be able to capture the whole picture about the candidates'€™ actual income because they could understate the tax due on their real income with fake documents.