TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Irman Gusman is now officially a broker. He peddled his influence as a public official in exchange for monetary gain. Irman, who is chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) was caught red-handed taking a Rp100 million bribe from Xaveriandy Sutanto, a sugar baron and the owner of Semesta Berjaya company, along with his wife Memi, at their official residence around midnight last Saturday.
As the DPD leader, Irman has no authority over sugar import matters so it came as a surprise to many that he received a guest who already was in trouble with the law in his private home at such odd hours. Xaveriandy is a defendant in a non-SNI (Indonesian National Standard) sugar import case currently on trial at the Padang District Court in West Sumatra. For sure, there is no connection between Irman and that particular case. The bribe was for something else, possibly to influence State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to grant Semesta Berjaya an additional sugar quota for West Sumatra.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had been monitoring the communication between Irman and Xaveriandy and his wife. The KPK said that according to the agreement, Irman would get Rp300 per each kilogram of the 3,000-ton quota he promised to Xaveriandy. So far, 1,000 tons had been realized and the Rp100 million was just a downpayment.
Already a defendant in a previous case, Xaveriandy also gave Rp365 million to Farizal, a state prosecutor, so he would get a lighter charge. In a bizarre twist, Farizal made an exception for the defendant, acting as though he were the defendant's legal counsel. So, still as a defendant, Xaveriandy was able to travel freely to Jakarta to see Irman a brazen show of disrespect for the law.
There is no question: Abuse of one's position is a serious problem. This case brings to mind the case involving Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, then the chairman of the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS). In January 2013, Luthfi was indicted in the beef import quota case. Bambang Widjojanto, PKS' deputy chairman at the time, said that Luthfi used his position to influence Agriculture Minister Suswono, also a PKS politician. Luthfi was a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I, which had nothing to do with beef import quotas.
In 2014, the Supreme Court, through an appeal trial, increased Luthfi's sentence from 16 years to 18 years. The court also stripped him off his political rights. Irman Gusman is now following in Luthfi's footsteps. Influence peddling is not clearly defined and stipulated in the anti-corruption law although it is a crime as specified in Article 18 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). Indonesia has not revised the anti-corruption law to incorporate this aspect.
The cases involving Luthfi and Irman should serve as a basis for a revision of the law. It can now be ascertained that these are not isolated cases. Trading in influence has long been a 'culture' among our public officials. The government needs to include a new separate clause for this practice in the anti-corruption law so that whoever commits influence peddling can be charged on clear legal grounds. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
