Arrest Highlight Local Corruption

When it comes to regional au­tonomy, the trope that power cor­rupts appears to remain valid in a country where graft cases contin­ue to implicate local leaders.

On Tuesday, the mayor of Tegal in Central Java, Siti Masitha Soeparno, was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on allegations of involve­ment in a botched health-facility construction project.

Five investigators arrested Siti during a raid at the mayor’s of­ficial residence at the Tegal City Hall complex on Tuesday night and brought her directly to Jakar­ta for further investigation.

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said he was angered by the arrest, especially since Siti was not the first local official in the province to be detained by the KPK.

Prior to Siti’s arrest, the KPK arrested two local officials in Cen­tral Java, including Kebumen councilor Yudhy Tri Hartanto and Klaten Regent Sri Hartini. Both Yudhy and Sri are politicians of the ruling Indonesian Demo­cratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Ganjar, a PDI-P politician him­self, insisted that public officials should be able to refrain from get­ting involved in corruption.

“If there are still many [state officials] attempting [to indulge in corruption], I support the KPK routinely coming to Central Java and carrying out raids,” Ganjar said on Wednesday.

Siti, who took the helm of the Tegal municipal administration in March 2014 after getting the en­dorsement of the Golkar Party, is also the latest mayor of Tegal to be investigated by the antigraft body.

Siti’s predecessor, Ikmal Jaya, was sent to prison in 2015 for cor­ruption surrounding a botched land procurement case, which re­portedly caused state losses of Rp 35.1 billion (US$2.6 million).

A predecessor, M. Zakir, who held office for two periods from 1990 to 2000, was sent to jail in 2007 for his involvement in three graft cases that reportedly caused state losses of Rp 73.3 million.

Also on Tuesday in Central Java, the Cilacap Prosecutor’s Of­fice arrested former regent Probo Yulastoro and his former region­al secretary Sayidi on allegations of conspiring to misuse regional funds in 2006, causing state loss­es of Rp 10.8 billion. It was the second budget-misuse case in­volving Probo, who served four years behind bars before he was released two years ago.

According to KPK data, at least 78 local leaders, including gover­nors, mayors, regents and their deputies, were investigated for corruption between 2004 and 2017. While in 2015, Home Min­ister Tjahjo Kumolo revealed that 343 local leaders had been impli­cated in cases related to local bud­get misuse investigated by either the KPK, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) or the police.

Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) executive director Robert Endi Jaweng said the un­derlying problem of rampant cor­ruption in regional administra­tions was not merely due to a lack of supervision of local leaders, but more to the flawed electoral sys­tem, political party management and their recruitment processes.

“Local leaders have great au­thority as they have money and power; however, they lack capac­ity and integrity. Such discrep­ancies result in ineffective and unaccountable regional gover­nance,” Robert told The Jakarta Post. “Strengthening supervision [by local inspectorates] alone will not work; reforming political par­ties is the key.”

--- (Source The Jakarta Post, Tuesday 31 August 2017) ---