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Politics hinders graft fight
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Against corruption: Anticorruption Civil Society Coalition members call for the arrest of House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto during a rally in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission headquarters in Jakarta on Sept.14.
(Antara/Wahyu Putro A.)
Y
esterday, three years ago, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla were inaugurated as President and Vice President amid mounting hopes that Jokowi’s clean background could significantly boost the country’s fight against corruption, a chronic disease that has plagued the people’s right to improved welfare.
A commitment to eradicate corruption was a key campaign element for the pair, which won 53.5 percent of the vote against rival ticket Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa.
“We will prioritize consistent and trustworthy corruption eradication as much as possible,” the then-Jakarta governor promised as he campaigned in the 2014 race.
Under the administration’s nine priority goals, dubbed Nawacita, the government claimed it would establish clean and transparent government through bureaucratic reform.
There was no special event held to commemorate Jokowi entering his fourth year in office on Friday. It was business as usual for the President, who was on an official visit to Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, with several of his ministers, to inaugurate the Mandalika Special Economic Zone in the city.
During Jokowi’s administration, the fight against corruption would seem to have become more aggressive.
According to data from anticorruption watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), at least 1,306 graft cases were investigated by the police, prosecutors and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from January 2015 to September 2017. More than 3,000 people were named suspects and charged with corruption that caused state losses amounting to some Rp 7.8 trillion (US$577 million).
