Corruption Perception Index: Improving Indonesia?s Ranking

Indonesian Version

 
 
Marcell Sihombing, M. Agus Yozami

 

As cited on the official website of the Secretariat of the Cabinet, President Joko Widodo recently issued Presidential Instruction No. 10 of 2016 on Corruption Prevention and Eradication Actions (Instruction 10/2016). According to Chief of Presidential Staff, Teten Masduki, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has formulated 31 actions which are to be implemented under the umbrella of a new regulation in a bid to increase or improve Indonesia’s overall position on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), improve Indonesia’s position within the Ease-of-Doing-Business (EODB) Survey, and also improve the country’s transparency index.
 
Bambang Brodjonegoro, the Minister for National Development Planning and Chairman of Bappenas, stated recently that the issuance of Instruction 10/2016 demonstrated the government’s commitment to preventing and eradicating corruption within the country, and that the instruction also represented a follow-up to Law No. 7 of 2006 on the Ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption - 2003 (Law 7/2006).
 
Minister Brodjonegoro further revealed that the government had also issued Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2012 on the National Strategy for Long-Term Corruption Prevention and Eradication for the 2012-2025 Period  and Mid-Term Corruption Prevention and Eradication for the 2012-2014 Period (Regulation 55/2012), in order to implement the various provisions set out in Law 7/2006.
 
Continuing, Minister Brodjonegoro also revealed that the government usually issues presidential instructions relating to these matters on an annual basis. However, Instruction 10/2016 will be applicable for a period of two years, running from 2016 through 2017. In addition, Minister Brodjonegoro expressed his strong expectation that all of the country’s ministries, governmental institutions and regional governments would ultimately comply with the various provisions which are set out in Instruction 10/2016.
 
Minister Brodjonegoro went on to explain that Instruction 10/2016 comprises of two main strategies. The first strategy is focusing upon the prevention of corruption, an area which is often forgotten in practice, while the second strategy is aiming to tackle aspects of law enforcement. These two strategies have been further subdivided into seven focus activities, which themselves comprise of 23 preventative measures and eight law-enforcement measures.
 
According to Minister Brodjonegoro, these numbers reveal that the focus has now shifted from punitive measures to the issue of prevention. The media have exhaustively documented the performance of the Corruption Eradication Commission, the National Police and the State Prosecutor Office’s during the implementation law-enforcement measures aimed at curbing corruption, and so, according to Minister Brodjonegoro, it's time to place a greater emphasis upon preventative measures. The Minister also asserted that the government would only be focusing upon certain sectors at this time, but that many other sectors may ultimately become the focus of corruption prevention and eradication measures.
 
“The first area of focus will be the extraction industry, specifically the mining industry. [This sector] will be followed by the infrastructure sector, the private sector, state revenue, the trading and management of products or commodities (tata niaga produk atau komoditas), state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and the procurement of goods and services,” Minister Brodjonegoro explained.
 
However, Minister Brodjonegoro also emphasized that these various areas of focus would not show any meaningful improvement without a sustained attempt at bureaucratic reform, adequate law enforcement and sufficient political support.
 
“As Mr. Masduki mentioned earlier, no matter what sectors are focused upon, the ultimate goal is to improve [Indonesia’s] position in the CPI, EODB Survey and transparency index,” Minister Brodjonegoro asserted.
 
By way of example, Minister Brodjonegoro pointed to several areas of focus which will be tackled, such as investment licensing and the procurement of goods and services.
 
“The emphasis here is that all ministries and government institutions should uphold notions of transparency and accountability as regards any mechanisms which relate to the procurement of goods and services, as well as the simplification of investment-licensing procedures,” Minister Brodjonegoro explained.
 
In terms of the areas of taxation and state revenue, Minister Brodjonegoro asserted that there was also a pressing need to improve the evaluation of tax-information and data-exchange mechanisms, to limit cash-transaction amounts and to crosscheck whether the existing energy-and-natural-resources database conforms to the corresponding tax or non-tax state revenue (PNBP) database.
 
Moreover, the assessment of Indonesia’s natural-resource management and food security will primarily place its focus upon the areas of trading and management, specifically as they relate to food imports and exports, as well as revenue transparency for the extraction industries.
 
“As for SOEs and the private sector, we are encouraging all companies which are domiciled in Indonesia, including SOEs, to secure ESO 37001 or similar anti-corruption certificates, as well as to attempt to establish decent SOE holding companies,” Minister Brodjonegoro outlined.
 
In terms of political commitment to efforts at bureaucratic reform, Minister Brodjonegoro asserted that the government fully supported the whistle-blower system, controls on gratuities, and improved accountability for grants and social-aid funding. Finally, Minister Brodjonegoro emphasized the importance of law-enforcement measures as they are carried out by various institutions, including the mechanism for the filing of compensation and indemnity claims, as well as the management of confiscated and seized goods.
 
(cd/sp)