Leakage National Assets Hits Government's Performance

Jakarta (Antara) - National asset leakage and corruption had weakened government performance and the Indonesian nation as a whole, presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has said. "We can feel the weaknesses of the nation and government's performance due to corruption. This is a result of the leakage of state assets," Prabowo said during a presidential debate here on Monday evening. The leakage of state assets had become systemic, so that in the end there were not enough resources for state officials and apparatuses in running the government, causing them to become corrupt officials, he said. They indulged in corruption because they were afraid of their future during the pension period, he added. The salary of a district head was only about Rp6 to Rp7 million per month, while he or she had to spend some Rp15 billion to finance their campaigns to gain the post, Prabowo cited as an example. "As a result, they would take money from the regional budget," he stressed. Likewise, the salary for a minister is about Rp18 million while his or her responsibility is big. The overtly liberal system required political leaders to seek money from their cadres who had posts in ministries, he claimed. Therefore, he promised to guarantee the quality of life to (law enforcers) such as police, prosecutors, judges and civil servants, while mentioning that the chief justice in Britain had a large salary. (*)