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75 years on, Indonesia grapples with entrenched corruption
Corruption remains an intractable issue to resolve in Indonesia after 75 after years of independence.
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Under investigation: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) seals an office of General Elections Commission (KPU) member Wahyu Setiawan following a search on Jan. 9. Under the new law, KPK investigators need the approval of the KPK Supervisory Council before making arrests, wiretapping and conducting searches, which many say is a setback for corruption eradication. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
“Documenting 75 years of resilience” is a series of special reports by The Jakarta Post to celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day, August 17, 1945.
Corruption remains an intractable issue to resolve in Indonesia 75 years after the country became independent.
The present-day antigraft campaign has been largely spearheaded by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which was established in late 2003 because of low public trust in the police and the Attorney General's Office.
The KPK was quick to uncover two corruption cases throughout its first year of operation. In 2018, it uncovered 199 corruption cases, the highest yearly number of cases the commission has investigated.
Yet corruption persists. Many modern-day scholars believed that it has become an inseparable part of Indonesia’s culture. A similar view was shared by the country's first vice president, M. Hatta, in 1974, according to history magazine historia.id.
Recent pollsters also said that Indonesians were growing more permissive toward petty corruption, a trend experts fear could motivate major acts of corruption.
