Indonesia Improves in Transparency International's Corruption Index
In the latest annual Corruption Perceptions Index, compiled by Transparency International (a Germany-based politically non-partisan institution), Indonesia's ranking improved to 88th (from 107th in last year's edition). As such, Indonesia continues to rise through the ranks of the index. Although this is a very encouraging development, it needs to be emphasized that the nation is still plagued by a high degree of corruption. Transparency International's index measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.
Although it is difficult to measure the exact degree of public corruption in any country (given that public officials are eager to hide their corrupt behavior), Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index is regarded a valuable index. The index is based on polls and as the population of a country usually has a good sense of what is going on within the country, the results of this index provide valuable information.
About the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International said more countries improved their score in 2015 than declined. It is also no coincidence that five of the top ten most corrupt countries also rank among the world's ten least peaceful nations. The Berlin-based institution noted that the human cost of corruption is huge, "yet all too often leaders with notoriously corrupt records continue to enjoy lives of luxury at the expense of people living in grinding poverty."
Further Reading: Analysis of Political Corruption in Indonesia
In the Corruption Perceptions Index a score of 0 would indicate a high degree of public corruption, while a reading of 100 would mean the absence of corruption in a particular country.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015:
| 1. | Denmark | 91 |
| 2. | Finland | 90 |
| 3. | Sweden | 89 |
| 4. | New Zealand |
88 |
| 5. | Netherlands | 87 |
| - |
Norway | 86 |
| 88. | Indonesia | 36 |
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Indonesia | 24 | 23 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 36 |
Source: Transparency International
Below we present some examples of recent corruption scandals that led to the imprisonment of Indonesia's political leaders:
• Akil Mochtar, the Chief Justice of Indonesia's Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi), was sentenced for life in 2014 after being found guilty of accepting a bribe to influence the court's ruling on the Gunung Mas election dispute in Central Kalimantan.
• Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng was sentenced to four years imprisonment in 2014 after being involved in a corruption case related to the construction of a sports complex (Hambalang sports complex) in Bogor (West Java).
• Former Deputy Governor of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) Budi Mulya was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in 2014 after being found guilty of self-enrichment and corruption in connection to the government's bailout package for Bank Century in 2008.
• Rudi Rubiandini, former Head of Indonesia's oil & gas regulator SKK Migas, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2014 for money laundering and accepting bribes from Singapore-based Kernel Oil Pte Ltd and Indonesia-based Kaltim Parna Industri. Former Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik has been named a suspect in this case and still awaits his court case. Prosecutors demanded a nine-year prison sentence for him.
• Former Chairman of the Democratic Party (Partai Demokrat, PD) Anas Urbaningrum was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2014 after being found guilty of corruption and repeated money laundering.
• Luthfi Hasan Ishak, Chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2013 after being found guilty of accepting a bribe from Indoguna Utama in exchange for Ishak's support for appointing the company as a beef importer, a policy that is overseen by the Agriculture ministry.