INDONESIA NEEDS A FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONSIBLE POLITICAL LOBBYING

Indonesia has witnessed strong economic growth in recent years, mainly on the basis of booming private investment and consumption. Yet despite significant improvements with regard to the general investment climate and the deregulation process that has been successfully implemented, investors still point at corruption, red tape and an uncertain legal environment as the main challenges for conducting business in the country. Unfortunately, Indonesia has the reputation of a country riddled with rampant corruption and nepotism, with questionable government practices and unethical public sector employees. Issues such as distrust, inconsistent enforcement rules and disloyalty from public sector employees and prospective local business partners affect foreign investors. Public sector employees often engage in arbitrary rule making, accept bribes to perform basic duties and grant special favours to friends and families. Companies continue to be concerned about concessions based on personal relationships and demands for irregular fees to obtain government contracts, permits or licences.

Bribery typically occurs during licensing procedures, as the level of bribes is positively correlated to the number of business licences a company must obtain in order to comply with regulations. Despite improvements in recent years, tax and customs administrations in Indonesia are perceived by many in the business community as corrupt, and many regulations are onerous. Indonesia has a complex regulatory and legal environment that leads many foreign and domestic companies to avoid the justice system. Companies are often advised by legal experts to resolve disputes through arbitration outside Indonesia because the judicial system operates irregularly and opaquely.

Major political parties in Indonesia establish networks of financial resources by putting members or public figures who are close to them in strategic positions within state agencies or state companies. The members are expected to influence policies at the agencies or comppanies to benefit the parties. Lawmakers use political lobbying to help state or private sector companies secure state-funded projects from ministries and other state institutions. Fees for assistance start from at least 10 percent of the total amount of the project. During state budget deliberations, lawmakers at the House's budgetary committee work hand-in-hand to grant certain infrastructure projects or funds to regional leaders in exchange for "commissions". The budget committee is also plagued with legislators allegedly receiving fees from ministries or state agencies for approving their requested annual budget allocation requests. Lawmakers receive kickbacks during critical decision-making processes at the House, including during the selection of high-profile public officials and during the passage of key legislation. Some companies and businessmen fund parties in the hope that the parties will lobby on their behalf for certain concessions and favourable policies.

The challenge for Indonesia is to establish a framework for responsible political lobbying. A simple framework to complement the Anti-Bribery Law is needed for guiding public officials and business lobbyists, whether they are professional lobbying companies and indiiduials, or in-house company lobbyists. The first step in establishing such a framework should be for Indonesia to learn about international experience in the provisions of lobbying rules. For certain, Indonesia needs to rethink engagement pratices that foster more collaborative approaches to public policy-making, such as igniting public debate to influence decision-makers, so as to prevent lobbying from descending into backroom deals. Lobbying should seek to affect public policy by providing key stakeholders, notably policy-makers, with options in the policy-making process. Some good examples include the collaboration between the NGO Coalition, for Freedom of Information and the Indonesian Ministry of Communications, and the cooperation between the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Ministry of Finance  on the amendment of taxation laws. However, such initiatives should be extended beyond the executive arm of government to legislators.

Civil society organisations such as Indonesian Corruption Watch, relevant government bodies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission and Parliament and the business community should work together to prove that lobbying can be a legitimate and valuable part of citizens' rights in a democracy.

For reminder, back in 2006 Indonesia did ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Chapter II of the Convention sets out an impressive number of articles (Articles 5 to 13) that identify a wide array of preventive measures, which can inform effective anti-corruption programmes or efforts within states. It calls for measures that reflect the overarching principles of the rule of law, good governance, intregrity, transparency and accountability. The measures encompass both the public and priavte sector and State Parties are also required to take appropriate steps to encourage the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, including civil society, non-government organizations and community-based organizations in the prevention of and fight against corruption. Articles present in Chapter II of the Convention address particular issues such as the need to: develop, implement and maintain effective, co-ordinated preventive anti-corruption policies and practices; ensure the existence of a preventive anti-corruption body or bodies; endeavour to adopt and strengthen systems for public sector hiring, recruitment and training and, as appropriate, address matters relating to the candidatures and election of public officials and to political party financing; consider establishing codes of conduct for public officials, and establish measures and systems to facilitate the reporting of acts of corruption by public officials to appropriate authorities; establish appropriate systems of public procurement and promote transparency and accountability in the management of public finances; take measures to enhance transparency in the public administration; strengthen the independence and integrity of the judiciary and of prosecution services; put in place measures to prevent corruption in the private sector, including enhancing auditing and accounting stanadrs; promote the active participation of society in preventing and combating corruption; and establish various measures to prevent money-laundering.

Admittedly Indonesia has still a long way to be in full compliance with the Chapter II of the UN Convention and more efforts are necessary but at the very least tackling lobbying activities would be a step in the right direction. There is nothing wrong with lobbying but it should be made as an open-house public process with no backroom deals, contributions under various disguised methods. When lobbying becomes backroom deals or buying off political support and influence, it is NOT lobbying, IT IS CORRUPTION!