Extract from UPAN (United Nations On Line Network in Public Administration and Finance) Report on Indonesia by Michael Malley - 2004.
Michael Malley
Michael Malley is an Assistant Professor of political science and has taught at Ohio University since 1999. He earned his MA and PhD in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, an MA in Asian Studies at Cornell University, and a BS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
Since the late 1980s, Dr. Malley has conducted extensive field research in Indonesia. His research there has focused on processes of state formation, especially the centralization of political power from the 1950s to 1990s. Part of that research was published as “Regions: Centralization and Resistance,” in Donald K. Emmerson, ed., Indonesia beyond Suharto (1999). In addition, he has devoted attention to Indonesia’s recent political changes, as reflected in “Beyond Democratic Elections: Indonesia Embarks on a Protracted Transition,” Democratization” (Autumn 2000).
Recently, Dr. Malley has turned his attention to subnational politics and the policy of decentralization. The interaction between the processes of decentralization and democratization are the subject of his recent chapter, “New Rules, Old Structures, and the Limits of Democratic Decentralisation,” in Local Power and Politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and Democratisation, Edward Aspinall and Greg Fealy, eds. (2003).
Corruption is so extensive and institutionalized that piecemeal reforms are unlikely to have a significant impact, while comprehensive reforms are unlikely to be acceptable to Indonesian politicians and state officials.Changing this situation requires a long-term commitment to building po-litical support for fighting corruption.The least difficult reform to achieve is transparency, which has improved with media reporting. The challenge is to make use of information such as asset declarations to hold officials legally and politically accountable. More effort needs to be placed on con-necting asset declarations with effective prosecutions. A special commission with powers to prosecute corruption should be set up. At the same time,more emphasis needs to be placed on cleaning up the judiciary, including enhanced training and better assessment of the judiciary’s activities.While it is also necessary to improve the capacity of police, prosecution, and courts
See full UPAN 2004 Report on Home Page - Reports on West Papua - Human Rights Abuse.
Most Corrupt World Leaders
Name Position Funds embezzled
1. Mohamed Suharto President of Indonesia (1967–1998 $15–35 billion
2. Ferdinand Marcos President of the Philippines (1972–1986) $5–10 billion
3. Mobutu Sese Seko President of Zaire (1965–1997) $5 billion
4. Sani Abacha President of Nigeria (1993–1998) $2–5 billion
5. Slobodan Milosevic President of Serbia/Yugoslavia (1989–2000) $1 billion
6. Jean-Claude Duvalier President of Haiti (1971–1986) $300–800 million
7. Alberto Fujimori President of Peru (1990–2000) $600 million
8. Pavlo Lazarenko Prime Minister of Ukraine (1996–1997) $114–200 million
9. Arnoldo Alemán President of Nicaragua (1997–2002) $100 million
10. Joseph Estrada President of the Philippines (1998–2001) $78–80 million
1. Defined as former political leaders who have been accused of embezzling the most funds from their countries over the past two decades.
2. All sums are estimates of alleged embezzlement and appear in U.S. dollars.
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2004.
Suharto [both: sOOhär'to]
Pronunciation KeySuharto or Soeharto , 1921–, president of Indonesia (1967–98). A veteran of the war for independence (1945–49) against the Dutch, he became army chief of staff in 1965. He opposed the pro-Chinese policies of President Sukarno and, while still relatively unknown, crushed a Communist coup in 1965 and then moved to replace Sukarno. Suharto assumed key civilian cabinet offices in 1966, became acting president in 1967, and assumed the office of supreme commander of the army and was elected president in 1968. He was reelected every five years from 1973 to 1998. Under Suharto, Indonesia gradually recovered from the economic morass into which it had fallen under Sukarno, achieving economic growth and political stability. Dissent was suppressed, however, in the name of consensus, and Suharto and his family used their power to enrich themselves and their friends. Economic instability and popular discontent with his rule forced Suharto's resignation in 1998, and subsequently a government corruption investigation was instituted, and Suharto was placed under house arrest in 2000 and later charged with corruption. The charges were dismissed, however, for health reasons.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2005, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
The 2005 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index
According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International, the world's least corrupt country is seen as being Iceland and the countries perceived as most corrupt are Bangladesh and Chad. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain, and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 16 surveys from 10 independent institutions, which gathered the opinions of businesspeople and country analysts. Only 159 of the world's countries are included in the survey, due to an absence of reliable data from the remaining countries. The scores range from ten (squeaky clean) to zero (highly corrupt). A score of 5.0 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem. Countries that have improved their rating since the 2004 index were Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Estonia, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Nigeria, Qatar, Slovakia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Yemen. Some of the countries that have a worse rating since 2004 include Costa Rica, Gabon, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay.Country rank Country 2005 CPI Score
1. Iceland 9.7
2. Finland 9.6
New Zealand 9.6
4. Denmark 9.5
5. Singapore 9.4
6. Sweden 9.2
7. Switzerland 9.1
8. Norway 8.9
9. Australia 8.8
10. Austria 8.7
11. Netherlands 8.6
United Kingdom 8.6
13. Luxembourg 8.5
14. Canada 8.4
15. Hong Kong 8.3
16. Germany 8.2
17. USA 7.6
18. France 7.5
19. Belgium 7.4
Ireland 7.4
21. Chile 7.3
Japan 7.3
23. Spain 7.0
24. Barbados 6.9
25. Malta 6.6
26. Portugal 6.5
27. Estonia 6.4
28. Israel 6.3
Oman 6.3
30. United Arab Emirates 6.2
31. Slovenia 6.1
32. Botswana 5.9
Qatar 5.9
Taiwan 5.9
Uruguay 5.9
36. Bahrain 5.8
37. Cyprus 5.7
Jordan 5.7
39. Malaysia 5.1
40. Hungary 5.0
Italy 5.0
South Korea 5.0
43. Tunisia 4.9
44. Lithuania 4.8
45. Kuwait 4.7
46. South Africa 4.5
47. Czech Republic 4.3
Greece 4.3
Namibia 4.3
Slovakia 4.3
51. Costa Rica 4.2
El Salvador 4.2
Latvia 4.2
Mauritius 4.2
55. Bulgaria 4.0
Colombia 4.0
Fiji 4.0
Seychelles 4.0
59. Cuba 3.8
Thailand 3.8
Trinidad and Tobago 3.8
62. Belize 3.7
Brazil 3.7
64. Jamaica 3.6
65. Ghana 3.5
Mexico 3.5
Panama 3.5
Peru 3.5
Turkey 3.5
70. Burkina Faso 3.4
Croatia 3.4
Egypt 3.4
Lesotho 3.4
Poland 3.4
Saudi Arabia 3.4
Syria 3.4
77. Laos 3.3
78 .China 3.2
Morocco 3.2
Senegal 3.2
Sri Lanka 3.2
Suriname 3.2
83. Lebanon 3.1
Rwanda 3.1
85. Dominican Republic 3.0
Mongolia 3.0
Romania 3.0
88. Armenia 2.9
Benin 2.9
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.9
Gabon 2.9
India 2.9
Iran 2.9
Mali 2.9
Moldova 2.9
Tanzania 2.9
97. Algeria 2.8
Argentina 2.8
Madagascar 2.8
Malawi 2.8
Mozambique 2.8
Serbia and Montenegro 2.8
103. Gambia 2.7
Macedonia 2.7
Swaziland 2.7
Yemen 2.7
107 Belarus 2.6
Eritrea 2.6
Honduras 2.6
Kazakhstan 2.6
Nicaragua 2.6
Palestine 2.6
Ukraine 2.6
Vietnam 2.6
Zambia 2.6
Zimbabwe 2.6
117. Afghanistan 2.5
Bolivia 2.5
Ecuador 2.5
Guatemala 2.5
Guyana 2.5
Libya 2.5
Nepal 2.5
Philippines 2.5
Uganda 2.5
126. Albania 2.4
Niger 2.4
Russia 2.4
Sierra Leone 2.4
130. Burundi 2.3
Cambodia 2.3
Congo, Republic 2.3
Georgia 2.3
Kyrgyzstan 2.3
Papua New Guinea 2.3
Venezuela 2.3
137. Azerbaijan 2.2
Cameroon 2.2
Ethiopia 2.2
Indonesia 2.2
Iraq 2.2
Liberia 2.2
Uzbekistan 2.2
144. Congo, Democratic Republic 2.1
Kenya 2.1
Pakistan 2.1
Paraguay 2.1
Somalia 2.1
Sudan 2.1
Tajikistan 2.1
151. Angola 2.0
152. Côte d'Ivoire 1.9
Equatorial Guinea 1.9
Nigeria 1.9
155. Haiti 1.8
Myanmar 1.8
Turkmenistan 1.8
158. Bangladesh 1.7
Chad 1.7
The Jakarta Post, Latest News August 29, 2002
Indonesia still among the most corrupt countries, TI survey
JAKARTA (Agencies): Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) has still ranked Indonesia among the most corrupt countriesin the world, with scores of two or less, while Finland, Denmark and New Zealand were the "cleanest", with scores of between nine and ten. In its annual report on Wednesday, the anticorruption body published a list of 102 countries ranked in order of perceptions of corruption, naming Bangladesh the most corrupt nation and Finland the least. Nigeria was second-worst, Angola, Madagascar and Paraguay tied at third from the bottom and Indonesia and Kenya jointly ranked as the fourth-most corrupt nations. "(Here) corruption is perceived to be widespread", said TI chairman Peter Eigen in a statement. The list is compiled from a series of surveys rather than a hard and fast rundown of the world's most corrupt countries; neither does it include those nations where there was insufficient information to make a judgment. "The political elite and its cronies continue to take kickbacks at every opportunity. Hand in glove with corrupt businesspeople hey are trapping whole nations in poverty and hampering sustainable development," said Eigen. He warned that corruption paved the way to plundering the earth in activities ranging from illegal logging to "blood diamonds". TI ranked the countries based on 15 surveys from nine independent institutions. The ranking relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by businesspeople and risk analysts. In Asia, top-rated Singapore was followed by Hong Kong in 14th place, Japan 20th, Taiwan 29th and South Korea 40th. China was not included in the list. India was ranked 71st, the same as Russia. Top-ranked Arab country was Tunisia at 36th place, followed by Jordan 40th, Morocco 52nd and Egypt 62nd. "Politicians increasingly pay lip service to the fight against corruption but they fail to act on the clear message of TI's perceptions index: that they must clamp down on corruption to break the vicious cycle of poverty and graft," concluded Eigen.
Economic Result of Corrupt Governments
BI Warns Of Inflation Rise
Paras Indonesia - Roy Tupai on 01, 05 2006 @ 03:36 am
Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank, has warned of a possible increase in inflation this month because of the government's distribution of cash assistance to the nation's poorest families.
"This January, we must watch out for an increase in the inflation rate due to the disbursement of the cash assistance to poor families and the arrival of the New Year cycle, where inflation usually increases by 1.1%," BI Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah was quoted as saying Wednesday (4/1/06) by state news agency Antara.He declined to mention this month's estimated inflation rate, but said BI would take efforts to cope with any increase.
"From now to the first semester of 2006, our economy is still bumpy, thus the monetary sector will still be tight. After the first semester of 2006, the economy will start moving. We will see whether or not the tight monetary policy needs to be relaxed," he said.
Abdullah said the current high bank interest rates had reduced space for economic activities due to a lack of bank funding, as had happened to the investment and infrastructure sectors.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said the January inflation rate should not be a cause for concern because economic activities are generally not high at the beginning of a year. For example, he said, activities related to state and regional budget financed projects were still low. "There is no problem. Inflation should not cause too much concern," he said.
But he admitted the government's plan to increase spending this year could push up inflation. In addition to handing out cash to the poor, the government also increased the salaries of civil servants by 15% this month.
BI senior deputy governor Miranda Gultom said the salary increase wasn't expected to have an effect on inflation until February.
Indonesia's inflation rate fell in December for the first time in seven months after state oil and gas company Pertamina cut fuel costs and food prices stabilized.
Year-on-year inflation for December was 17.1%, down slightly from the six-year high of 18.4% in November.
The government is from January to March giving about 10 million families Rp300,000 ($30) each to help them cope with the effects of last October's 126% increase in fuel prices.
