Integrity as the Fortress of Prevention of Corruption in the Political Sector

Lately, the mass media coverage has been dotted with news of the capture of regional heads and members of parliament in the capture operation (OTT) initiated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Some of them were involved in cases of bribery, gratification, and extortion.

A large number of public officials who were suspected of corruption caused the empty leadership chair and the crisis of officials who were clean and with integrity. So that a comprehensive multidimensional approach is needed to prevent and limit corruption.

The topic was illustrated in the Public Discussion with the theme “Prevention of Corruption in the Political Sector” organized by the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), the Corruption Eradication Commission, and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), on Wednesday (19/12) at the Public Lecture Building Prof. Dr. Sardjito, UII Integrated Campus.

Vice Chancellor for Student, Religious and Alumni Affairs at UII, Dr. Drs. Rohidin, SH., M.Ag., in his speech said that we should be grateful because among the young generation who attended this event consciously still cared about the conditions of our nation’s problems.

“The younger generation is expected not to continue the corrupt culture that is already attached to the bureaucratic system in Indonesia, hopefully, the implementation of this event can encourage the birth of a young generation of Indonesians who are clean and with integrity as a cadre of future leaders,” he said.

While the Director of Education and Community Service of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Giri Suprapdiono said that the fundamental issue of high rates of corruption in Indonesia was one of the most expensive political costs, while state assistance to political parties was very low.

“The KPK recommends that the state contribute more to operational funding of political parties, along with the improvement of the code of ethics, behavior, recruitment, and care,” he said.

Furthermore, the P2P LIPI researcher, Dr. Sri Nuryanti, S.IP., M.A. added that there was a need to internalize the value of party integrity in efforts to uphold the democratic system in Indonesia.

“It is important to build a set of policies agreed upon by political parties as a standard of integrity that must be adhered to by all party cadres to minimize the risk of political corruption and abuse of power,” he concluded.

Also present at the event were Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM, Dr.rer.pol. Mada Sukmajati, MPP., And Dr. Kuskridho Ambardi, M.A., UGM Faculty of Law Lecturer, Dr. Zainal Arifin Mochtar, SH., LLM., Lecturer at the Faculty of Law UII, Dr. Suparman Marzuki, SH., M.Sc.