Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng and Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo were both guilty of sins of omission. This is the conclusion of an investigative report released by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) on the corruption scandal over the construction of the massive sports complex in Hambalang, West Java. The report will now be taken up by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which is looking into whether there is a legal case against both ministers.
In the meantime, both ministers are likely to stay put even in the face of this most damning report. In any leadership capacity, especially if you are heading a government agency, omission is as bad an offense as commission. The ministers may not have profited from the financial improprieties their subordinates conducted, but as their superiors, they cannot shy away from their responsibility.
Their boss, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, isn’t likely to take any immediate action either, preferring as he has done with past corruption allegations against people around him, to let the law take its full course. Of course, as long as these two men are allowed to keep their jobs, and hence their power, any legal investigation by the KPK or anyone else will likely be protracted and slow.
Yudhoyono is also guilty of omission, for not taking firm action against his erring subordinates. Omission has now become the chief characteristic of Yudhoyono’s second-term administration. The Indonesian word for omission, pembiaran, is much sharper. If omission allows the guilty parties to plead ignorance, pembiaran tells you that they knew but they decided to ignore or even encourage the supposed offense.
The government may not be directly responsible for the rise in the persecution of religious minorities, but it is surely guilty for not taking action against the perpetrators. As a result, attacks on religious minorities have become more frequent and expanded to involve an ever larger number of groups. The President could have stopped them, and his oath of office actually mandates that he protects people of all religions and uphold freedom of religion.
The President should also have reprimanded or fired his subordinates for improper behavior, for departing from the government policy line or for openly ignoring his orders. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali shamelessly brought 35 members of his family and close friends on a haj pilgrimage last month, when most other people have to wait for years for their turn. And there is the open defiance of his instruction to the National Police to cooperate with the KPK in the investigation of the scandal of the procurement of driving simulators. The list goes on and on.
Omission, omission and omission.
This week, the President left for the UK to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth, a day after a deadly communal clash in Lampung. Everyone underestimated the gravity of the problem. Here is a conflict pitting Bali migrants, who were resettled decades ago in the southern province of Sumatra under the government transmigration policy, against Lampung natives. One would have thought that these people would have been assimilated or integrated by now after all this time. They haven’t. The economic rivalry between settlers and locals has led to tensions, and has now turned into a full blown and deadly conflict. This is a symptom of a much larger problem that can also be found in other resettlement areas. Papua is said to be a ticking social time bomb.
President Yudhoyono has been known to cancel his foreign sojourns in the past in order to deal with pressing domestic problems. Lampung, and what it means for the nation’s unity and cohesion, is obviously not that pressing for him. But even if he had stayed behind, he probably would not have done much as long as he is in this omission mode. He may as well have gone to London and collect his medal from the queen.
A little bright spot of the week concerns State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, one of the few ministers who are doing something worthwhile. After taking so much flak from the House of Representatives which is clamoring for his head with accusations of corruption based on the flimsiest of evidence, Dahlan dropped a bombshell right on the House’s doorstep: He says he has the names of House members who have been extorting money from the CEOs of state-owned companies. He virtually shut them up. Dahlan promises to name and shame them soon. “I have my ways,” he promised.
One of the few times government omission would have been welcome is with regard to the teaching of English and science in elementary schools. If the curriculum isn’t broken, why fix it? The plan to scrap English and science subjects from primary school would take the nation’s future leaders literally several generations backward. Minister Mohammad Nuh, please stay away.
At this rate, this government by omission (and Nuh’s commission) is leading the nation on a slow descent into self destruction. It’s not too late to stop it. We have an elected president who is still good for just under two more years, and he’s a knight at that.
You go, Sir Susilo.
— Endy M. Bayuni