Recently, corruption cases causing substantial state losses have become the focus of public attention.
For example, the corruption case involving crude oil management at Pertamina resulted in losses of IDR 193.7 trillion, the corruption case at the Indonesia Export Financing Agency, which amounts to IDR 11.7 trillion, and the corruption involving BJB advertising funds.
Previously, there was an uproar over corruption at PT Timah, which was estimated to have caused state losses of up to IDR 300 trillion.
These various corruption cases illustrate how deeply entrenched this issue is in the nation’s life, even rooted across multiple sectors of society and governance.
Dr. Zainal Arifin Mochtar, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FH UGM), identifies three primary factors as the root causes of corruption in Indonesia that make it difficult to eradicate: pragmatism, greed, and failure to build an effective system.
He highlighted that pragmatism often drives people to engage in corrupt acts.
“Many people prefer quick solutions, like paying bribes in traffic violations, rather than adhering to ideals and facing harsher legal consequences,” Dr. Mochtar said during the Special Ramadan Lecture titled “Chronic Corruption Everywhere” on Sunday (Mar. 22).
According to Dr. Mochtar, greed is also the cause of all corruption cases. Greed knows no bounds, and many individuals become ensnared in corruption due to their inability to control personal desires.
Even more alarming, the failure to build a good system is a significant factor behind rampant corruption cases. A poorly designed system opens the door for abuse of power.
“For instance, the issue of importing essential goods is often caused by inaccurate data or unclear recording. The same goes for the misuse of non-transparent import quotas,” Dr. Mochtar added.
Finally, he stressed the importance of all parties’ willingness to eradicate corruption. He believes that the biggest problem is not the ability to enforce the law but the will to uphold it and maintain integrity.
Professor Nanang T. Puspito, Secretary of the Professors Forum at the Bandung Institute of Technology, shared his experience of teaching anti-corruption for 15 years, even though it falls outside his academic expertise.
He emphasized that Indonesia is facing serious problems related to corruption. Indonesia’s Corruption Perception Index remains low, and weak law enforcement and a lack of role models have made society more permissive of corruption.
What is even more disheartening, he continued, is the fact that legal enforcement against corrupt officials is still very weak and does not serve as a deterrent, so there is no fear of engaging in corruption.
“As an academic and a professor, I must state that corruption in Indonesia continues to grow, affecting almost every sector of life, and our corruption perception index is very low, at 37 out of a maximum score of 100. If we compare this to a student’s grade, scoring 37 would be considered failing,” he remarked.
Professor Puspito mentioned that Indonesia’s anti-corruption strategy consists of enforcement, prevention, and education.
The educational aspect aims to ensure that people do not want to engage in corruption, not just out of fear or because they cannot, but because they do not want to.
“This is the ultimate goal of anti-corruption education. The purpose of this education is to cultivate an anti-corruption culture among students by providing them with the knowledge, values, and skills needed to promote an anti-corruption culture on campus,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rahmawati, a lecturer in Government Studies at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, noted that corruption in Indonesia is very complex, involving numerous actors at various levels, from the national government to village administrations.
She said what is most concerning is that many former corruption convicts are still able to run for legislative office.
This reflects the weak integrity within Indonesia’s political realm.
“Many in society consider corruption to be a normal occurrence. This is reflected in the increasing number of bribery cases during the recruitment process for civil servants and private sector employees, as well as dishonesty in various aspects of daily life,” she noted.
She believes the entrenched corruption culture requires serious efforts to foster an anti-corruption culture.
She proposed prohibiting former corruption convicts from running for legislative or public office and imposing harsher punishments, such as requiring the return of state losses and asset confiscation.
Additionally, she suggested regular monitoring and evaluation of transparency and accountability for public officials, supported by university research.
Former Deputy Chair of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Dr. Laode Muhammad Syarif, pointed out that corruption in natural resource management has become a serious issue.
Corruption involves various parties, from high-ranking government officials to private sector businesspeople.
The methods used are diverse, ranging from bribery, embezzlement, and money laundering to tax and royalty manipulation. Environmental violations often accompany these corruption cases.
“They are, in fact, violating the rules, and in order to avoid prosecution or lawsuits from law enforcement, they resort to bribery,” he explained.
Dr. Syarif highlighted the unfair distribution of profits from natural resources. Corruption in Indonesia’s natural resource sector not only causes financial losses to the state but also threatens environmental sustainability and the well-being of local communities.
“I want to stress that corruption in natural resource management in Indonesia is a significant problem. The licensing process is problematic, company ownership is unclear, and revenue and royalty sharing are non-transparent. This highly complex issue requires more attention from universities,” he concluded.
Author: Lintang
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya
Photo: Liputan6.com