Dipo’s maneuver shows rifts in Cabinet

JAKARTA. Politicians are questioning why Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam has reported officials from three ministries to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly colluding with lawmakers to fix budgets.

The unprecedented move by a Cabinet secretary indicates, again, serious friction within the multi-party Cabinet headed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

One politician from the Golkar Party, which has often challenged the President on policy while remaining in Yudhoyono’s coalition, said that Dipo should have consulted with the President and resolved problems internally, instead of filing a report with the KPK.

“Pak Dipo’s move seems to confirm rumors that there is a serious rift within the Cabinet. The President must take immediate action on the matter, otherwise this will create a chaotic situation,” Golkar Party politician Priyo Budi Santoso said in Jakarta on Monday.

Priyo, who is a deputy House of Representatives’ speaker, evinced skepticism on Dipo’s intentions. “He pointed to certain ministries, rather than pointing at all government institutions. He further described such corruption practices with lawmakers, which I think is an attempt to force the House and the government into conflict,” Priyo said.

As previously reported, Dipo told the KPK that officials from three ministries allegedly colluded with lawmakers to fix budgets.

While the Cabinet secretary declined to name the ministries, sources close to Dipo who declined to be named said the ministries were the Agriculture Ministry, Defense Ministry and the Trade Ministry.

High-ranking officials from the ministries have said they were ready to be questioned by the KPK about the allegations. The collusion at the Trade Ministry reportedly occurred before Gita Wirjawan was appointed trade minister in October last year.

Meanwhile, the reported collusion at the Defense Ministry involved more than Rp 600 billion (US$63.3 million) in an “optimization fund” that the ministry had requested from House Commission I overseeing defense.

Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq confirmed on Monday that a Finance Ministry official had withheld disbursement of the fund at the Cabinet secretary’s request.

“The Finance Ministry’s director-general for budgeting told us in a meeting [in September] that the Cabinet secretary had asked the ministry to withhold disbursement of the fund,” Mahfudz said.

“Dipo’s move was irrational. He overstepped the President’s authority by requesting that the Finance Ministry withhold the funds. He should have first reported it to the President, so that the President could summon relevant ministries for clarification.”

Mahfudz described Dipo’s actions as designed to distract the public from several currently controversial issues, including Yudhoyono’s grant of clemency to several high-profile narcotics convicts on death row and the involvement of several politicians from his Democratic Party in several corruption cases, such as the Hambalang sports facilities construction project in 2010. (Margareth Aritonang/ The Jakarta Post)