Monday, May 15, 2006

Friedrich August von Hayek

Peran Friedrich August von Hayek pada akhir abad ke-20 seiring dengan runtuhnya sosialisme mungkin dapat dikatakan mirip hampir mirip dengan peran yang dimainkan oleh Adam Smith pada abad ke 18, yang memberikan pencerahan dan penekanan pada kekuatan kreatif dari kebebasan dan ekonomi pasar. Ia bahkan dianggap sebagai figure kunci di abad ke 20 bagi kemunculan kembali liberalisme. Dengan sendirinya, sumbangan dan peran besar yang dimainkan oleh Hayek dalam penyebarluasan ide dan tatanan kebebasan membuat ia menjadi musuh nomor 1 dari kelompok sosialis. Mulai dari karyanya yang terkenal “The Road to Serfdom” (1944), “The Constitution of Liberty” (1960) hingga “The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism” (1989), gagasan Hayek tentang kapitalisme global memberikan pengaruh yang tak sedikit kepada para pemikir dan filsuf terkenal seperti K. R. Popper dan Robert Nozick. Bukan itu saja gagasan-gagasanya pun memberikan kontribusi pengaruh yang tak sedikit terhadap para pemimpin politik di Timur maupun Barat, seperti Ludwig Erhard, Margaret Thatcher atau Ronald Reagan, dan Vaclav Klaus dari Republik Czech, Leszek Balcerovicz dari Polandia, dan Mart Laar dari Estonia, serta banyak lagi yang lainnya. Oleh karenanya sekali lagi Hayek menjadi target yang terkenal dari para kelompok sosialis, proteksionist, dan belakangan para pengkritik globalisasi dan neo-liberal.

Hayek memberikan kontribusi yang tak sedikit terhadap perdebatan yang menyangkut spontaneous order dan limits of knowledge. Pemikiran Hayek juga memberikan kontribusi pemahaman yang menyangkut kebijakan kompetisi dalam konteks pasar terbuka, konstitusi dan desentralisasi system politik dan kontrol terkadap kekuasaan. Kompetisi oleh Hayek dianggap sebagai prosedur terbaik bagi pencarian solusi baru dan terbaik, dan memberikan kesempatan yang terbaik bagi setiap individu dalam mengejar kebahagian hidup mereka.

Sumbangan Hayek terpenting lainnya muncul pada arena politik dengan keterlibatannya dalam pendirian “Mont Pelerin Society” pada 10 April tahun 1947. Dengan mengundang sekitar 36 orang yang kebanyakan merupakan ekonom, sejarahwan, filsuf, untuk hadir di Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, Hayek mengajak mereka mendiskusikan mengenai negara dan penerapan liberalisme baik sebagai sebuah pemikiran maupun didalam praktek.

Hayek dilahirkan pada tanggal 8 Mei tahun 1899, di Vienna, Austria putra dari Dr. August von Hayek, Professor ilmu Botani pada University of Vienna. Friedrich August von Hayek died on March 23, 1992. Ia menerima penghargaan The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel pada tahun 1974 untuk kategori ekonomi bersama-sama dengan Gunnar Myrdal

Dibawah ini adalah beberapa diantara karya yang dihasilkan Hayek.

Geldtheorie und Konjunkturtheorie, Wien, 1929, also in English as Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, London, 1933, as well as in Spanish and Japanese translations.
Prices and Production, London, 1931, also in German, Chinese, French and Japanese translations.
Monetary Nationalism and International Stability, London, 1937.
Profits, Interest, and Investment, London 1939.

The Pure Theory of Capital, London, 1940, also in Japanese and Spanish translations.
The Road to Serfdom, London and Chicago, 1944, also in Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish translations.
Individualism and Economic Order, London and Chicago, 1949, also in German and an abridged Norwegian translation.
John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor, London and Chicago, 1951.
The Counter-Revolution of Science, Chicag,o 1952, also in German, Italian and an abridged French translation
The Sensory Order, London and Chicago, 1952.
The Constitution of Liberty, London and Chicago, 1960, also in Spanish, German and Italian translations.
Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, London and Chicago, 1967.
Law, Legislation and Liberty, vol. I, Rules and Order, London and Chicago, 1973


Anda dapat mengunjungi beberapa website dibawah ini yang memuat informasi mengenai F.A. Hayek

www.kedai-kebebasan.org
www.hayekcenter.org,
www.mises.org/hayekbio.asp
www.fnst.org


Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Indonesia and Corruption
Based on “THE HISTORY OF CORRUPTION IN INDONESIA” by Muhammad Husni Thamrin


Pushed by the stronger demand of democracy and the recognition to human rights, as well as the public participation in public policies; the reform movement requires a clean government in order to have a good governance.


However, the problem is apparently the slow process of the settlement of KKN cases. The Attorney General even seems to be reluctant in probing the KKN cases that involve Soeharto and his cronies. None of the big scale cases that are handled by the Attorney General, namely the KKN cases of Soeharto and his family, Bank Bali, Andi Ghalib, Texmaco, BLBI, Goro, etc., has been completely settled by this legal institution.

It seems that corruption problems have to be perceived in the system framework. Corruption is the result of an economic and political system that is run by the centralized and repressive modern government mechanism.

Definition on Corruption

In June 1999, The Coordinating Minister of Supervision and Development defined KKN as the collusion and nepotism practices among officials and the private sectors that contain the corruption element or privileges. Whilst the operational limit of KKN was defined as the disbursement of facilities or privileges by the government official and State or Regional Owned Company to an economic unit/legal body owned by the respective officials, their families and friends.

How is corruption taken into practice?


Onghokham said that there are two dimensions where corruption works. The first one happens at the higher level, involving the authority or government officials and includes vast amount of money. The other dimension generally happens at the middle and lower levels, usually deals with the public interest. The complicated process of getting licenses, ID cards, driving licenses, immigration documents, or even illegal fees collected by bad police officers are some of the examples.

Corruption in the Dimension of Indonesian History


In 1799 the Dutch trade association VOC (Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) cynically reworded as Verhaan Onder Corruptie collapsed due to corruption. Naturally, a trading company like VOC prohibited their workers to involve in trading. But with the excuse of small pay, it was common if some VOC officials had a side business with the Portuguese, Indian, or French traders.

This corruption matter did not end when the Dutch Indies replaced VOC. The bureaucracy system of Dutch Indies that recognized dual system, namely Bestuurs Beambten (BB) and Pangreh Praja (Civil Servants), triggered another kind of the corruption.

During the Forced Labor period, 1830-1870, the native residents were obliged to plant several kinds of crops that were popular in the European market on one third of their land. However, some community leaders such as village chief and regent in charge of the Forced Labor compelled the farmers to plant the crops on 2/3 of their lands.

Forced Labor was abolished in 1870 and replaced with a liberal economic system, where the capitalists were allowed to own lands, and able to rent properties from the local people or the government. Communal paddy fields were starting to be rented out by the village chiefs, where they could make profit. On the other hand, salary earned by the civil servants remained to be low. At the same time, being part of the Dutch Indies government and traditional bureaucracy system, those civil servants ought to maintain their high profile lifestyle. They were alleged to receiving many kinds of levies from the people to support their living.

The period of Japanese invasion was believed to be the time when corruption ran high. The Japanese occupational government exploited Indonesia and its resources for the interest of the Ad Nippon warriors. It was difficult to get staple food and/or clothing back then. But if anyone were willing to be the Japanese propagator, it would be “a bit easier”.

The effort to nationalize foreign companies in 1951 brought a new problem into existence. Before that decree was enacted in 1958, the military, the army in particular, had seized those companies by force. On December 13, 1957 Major General A.H. Nasution (the Army Head of Staff at that time) issued a restriction on occupying Dutch companies without the consent of the military and put those seized companies under the military supervision.

Before that decree on nationalization came to existence, Politik Benteng (Fortress Politic) policy was implemented. Based on this policy, the native businessmen were given loans and facilities, a license to import goods were one of them. They were hopeful that profit earned from the sale of imported goods could be used as a capital for business expansion. On the contrary, what came into existence were the collusion, corruption, and nepotism (KKN) practices. License was only issued for the businessmen closed to the government and dominant political power.

Controlled democracy that was then exercised by Soekarno failed to deal with disintegration of the state administration. The state apparatus did not work well and corruption was even more rampant.

The New Order regime, the economic growth was the main target of the New Order regime. Leaking or corruption matters were secondary.

Soeharto era was colored by three interesting phenomena. Firstly, the cooperation between military leaders and businessmen of the Chinese descends. Secondly, the competition between indigenous and non-indigenous businessmen. Thirdly, the influence of state owned companies under the control of military versus the technocrats who supported the liberalization and Western intervention.

Agreements made with administrative bureaucracy became subject to the approval of the army officials. Military held a crucial role in the issuing of contracts license, decision on projects, etc. The economic resources they obtained from the increase oil price and from the state owned companies, as well as their cooperation with non-indigenous/Chinese businessmen supported the absolute military power when the New Order just resumed to power. Although in 1966 Indonesia had been widely open for foreign investment, the overflowing proceeds from petroleum in early 1970 generated enough fund for the New Order to finance its development and political programs.

Pertamina was the primary supporter of Soeharto and New Order. Under the management of Ibnu Sutowo, Pertamina operation was kept secret and its annual financial report was never published. Soeharto and the army had very big interest over Pertamina. As what Richard Robison said that Pertamina had become a channel where money flowed for the government to finance its political expenses.

In January 1970 some Indonesian student organizations protested against corruption in the government body, the corruption practices still went on and got even worst. The government controlling body, such as the House of Representatives, Auditors, or the Attorney General and State Apparatus Controlling Body, and the legal instrument installed to fight against corruption, Decree No.3/1971 on abolishment of corruption, were not functioning as expected.

In early 1980-s the forestry sector, became the new arena of looting for Soeharto and his cronies. In early 1980-2 we knew of the terminology “Green Gold”.


Based on the survey conducted by a US researcher named David W. Brown, up to the end of 1995, the forestry plantation in Indonesia amounted to 62 millions hectares and there were five big companies holding HPH concession. Those five HPH concession holders controlled the total area of 18 million hectares. That size meant that 30 percent of the total existing HPH were managed by 585 concession holder companies. Based on that research, two of HPH concession holders surrendered their shares and management to Soeharto’s family. The two companies are Barito Pacific group and Bob Hasan group.


Conclusion

Indeed KKN practices dethroned Soeharto in 1998. The economic crisis that arrived in 1997 was a manifestation of the New Order economic policies that were weighed down by KKN and its dependent on foreign capital and foreign economic aid.

The eradicating of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN) was one of the agenda fought for by the 1997- reform movement. This abolishment is intended for the probing of KKN practices committed by Soeharto and his cronies in the New Order era.

Some legal instruments that regulate the abolishment of corruption and creating a clean government was soon installed by Habibie when he resumed to power in Soeharto’s position. The instruments are as follows:

1. MPR Decree No. XI/MPR/1998 about the running of a clean government.

2. Decree No. 28/1999 about the running of a KKN free government.

3. President Instruction No.30/1998 about the forming of commission for inspection of
the official wealth.

4. Idea of forming a Commission on Eradicating Corruption.

Based on MPR Decree No.XI/MPR/1998 in fact Habibie received a mandate to eradicate corruption and to probe into Soeharto KKN cases as soon as possible. However, it was not clear as to why no evidence was found to bring Soeharto to court.


Therefore, the withdrawal of the warrant letter to investigate and to probe on Soeharto (SP3) by Marzoeki Darusman, the new Attorney General, shed a light to the hope of probing and abolishing corruption in Indonesia. Government ability to settle this case on Soeharto will become the point of no return, to prove that this new regime has the will power to eradicate corruption.
Review Addicted To Rent


Nafsu menjarah dan mengeksploitasi hutan Indonesia, guna mempertebal kocek uang mereka, bukan hanya dimiliki oleh putra-putri dan sanak keluarga Soeharto saja. Pada masa “babe pembangunan” ini berkuasa para kroni beliau pun turut menjarah dan menikmati hasil hutan tropis Indonesia.

Seorang peneliti asal Washington, Amerika Serikat, David W. Brown, baru-baru ini menyelesaikan sebuah penelitian tentang praktek pat gulipat yang dilakukan oleh Soeharto dan kroni-kroninya di sektor kehutanan. Penelitian tersebut, yang berjudul Addicted to Rent: Corporate and Spatial Distribution of Forest Resource in Indonesia; Implication for Forest Sustainability and Government Policy, menyoroti praktek KKN yang dilakukan oleh perusahaan-perusahaan HPH dan mantan presiden Soeharto.

David Brown adalah peneliti asal Amerika Serikat yang bekerja pada Indonesia-UK Tropical Forest Management Programme.

Berdasarkan laporan penelitian tersebut, ternyata diantara lima perusahaan HPH swasta terbesar, dua diantaranya menyerahkan sebagian saham dan pengelolaan pada keluarga Soeharto. Kedua perusahaan tersebut adalah Kelompok Barito Pasific dan Kelompok Bob Hasan. Dengan praktek semacam itu diduga kedua kelompok besar ini telah menyumbang miliaran dollar ke dalam kocek keluarga Soeharto.

Penelitian tersebut juga mencatat bahwa lima perusahaan pemegang konsesi HPH tersebut, Barito Pasific, Djajanti, Alas Kusuma, Kayu Lapis Indonesia (KLI), dan Bob Hasan group, berdasarkan data yang didapat hingga akhir tahun 1995, mengontrol seluas 18 juta hektare HPH di seluruh Indonesia. Luas tersebut berarti merupakan 30 persen dari luas seluruh HPH sebesar 62 juta hektare yang dikuasai oleh 585 perusahaan pemegang konsesi hutan.

Satu hal yang patut dicatat adalah, akibat adanya kolusi, korupsi, dan nepotisme, yang terjadi antara beberapa perusahaan raksasa pemegang HPH tersebut dengan Soeharto, maka pendapatan dari sektor hutan yang seharusnya mengalir ke dalam kas negera berpindah tangan ke dalam kantung keluarga Cendana.


Kelompok Barito Pasific
Kelompok Barito Pasific merupakan kelompok swasta pemegang konsesi HPH terbesar di Indonesia. Salah satu alasan mengapa konglomerat ini mendapat begitu banyak konsesi adalah, ia mau menyediakan saham dan kedudukan di dalam struktur perusahaannya kepada keluarga mantan presiden Soeharto.

PT. Barito Nusantara Indah merupakan salah satu anak perusahaan Barito Pasific yang memberikan saham kepada keluarga Soeharto. Perusahaan yang memiliki lahan seluas 95.000 hektare di Kalimantan Timur ini menempatkan Ibnu Hartomo, saudara kandung Ny. Tien Soeharto (alm), sebagai Komisaris Utama.

Sementara itu Bernard Ibnu Hardojo, juga saudara kandung Ny. Tien Soeharto, didudukkan sebagai Direktur pada anak perusahaan BPT yang lain, PT. Panambangan, yang memiliki lahan HPH di Kalimantan Tengah seluas 65.000 hektare.

Barito Pasific , yang dimiliki oleh Prajogo Pangestu, agaknya memang ingin berdekat-dekat terus dengan mantan orang kuat Orde Baru ini. Terbukti Indra Rukmana, suami dari Mbak Tutut (putri tertua Soeharto), juga ditempatkan sebagai Presiden Direktur pada PT. Sangkurilang Bakti, yang memiliki HPH di Kalimantan Timur seluas 110.000 hektare.

Hubungan antara Barito Pasific dengan mantan presiden Soeharto dimulai pada tahun 1980-an, saat Barito membeli hak atas 35 konsesi kayu yang dimiliki oleh perusahaan lain. Hal ini dapat terjadi karena campur tangan Soeharto. Barito Pasific bahkan mendapatkan kemudahan pinjaman dari tiga bank milik pemerintah, yaitu Bank Bumi Daya, Bapindo, dan Bank Dagang Negara. Pada tahun 1991 Barito Pasific mendapat subsidi dari perusahaan hutan milik negara, Inhutani II, sebesar US$ 45 juta dan pinjaman dari Bank Bumi Daya sebesar US$ 550 juta.

Berdasarkan laporan joint committee antara Bank Indonesia dengan Menteri Keuangan pada tahun 1994, Barito Pasific adalah perusahaan swasta yang memiliki utang terbesar di bank-bank pemerintah. Berdasarkan laporan tersebut jumlah utang Barito Pasific kepada bank pemerintah adalah Rp 3,8 trilliun. Rangking ini turun pada tahun 1999 ke posisi nomor tiga di belakang dua anak laki-laki Soeharto. Namun David Brown percaya bahwa berdasarkan data yang ada di Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), Barito Pasific adalah konglomerat keenam yang memiliki utang besar pada bank-bank milik negara.

Selain mendapat kemudahan pinjaman dari bank-bank milik negara, konsesi-konsesi yang dimiliki oleh Barito memang telah memberikan peghasilan yang melimpah bagi Parjogo Pangestu. Dari penghasilan tersebut Prajogo mampu menghidupkan dan membesarkan bisnisnya, serta membiayai hubungan-hubungannya dengan Soeharo.

Pada tahun 1991 Barito telah mengeluarkan uang sebesar US$ 220 juta untuk mem-bail out Bank Duta. Bank Ini merupakan milik Nusamba, yang meupakan sebuah holding dengan 80 persen saham dimiliki oleh tiga yayasan terbesar mantan Presiden Soeharto. Konglomerat yang lain Salim Group, yang juga merupakan pemegang konsesi hutan terbesar ke enambelas, ikut membantu Barito Pasific mem-bail out Bank Duta.

Barito Pasific juga memberikan dukungan, melalui Barito Pasific Delta Mustika, saat Soeharto memerintahkannya untuk mem-bail out Astra, yang saat itu terkena ancaman bangkrut akibat kegagalan proyek bank pedesaan antara Bank Summa dengan Nahdlatul Ulama.

Keuntungan yang diperoleh Barito Pasific dari konsesi kayu juga dipergunakan untuk membangun kerjasama bisnis dengan dua orang anak Soeharto. Pabrik pulp milik Barito Pasific, PT. Tanjung Enim Lestari, yang bernilai sekitar US$ 1.1 milliar, telah memberikan sekitar 15% saham kepada amak perempuan Soeharto, yang juga mantan Menteri Sosial, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana., alias Mbak Tutut. Mbak Tutut juga memiliki saham sekitar 35% pada PT. Musi Hutan Persada, yang mengelola perkebunan penghasil kayu untuk diolah sebagai pulp. Tutut serta Prajogo Panegstu juga memiliki perkebunan gula yang sangat luas di Sulawesi.

Keterlibatan Barito dalam bisnis dan politik pun terbukti dalam pemilihan umum 1999. Sebuah laporan yang dimuat di dalam majalah Far Eastern Economic Review menyebutkan bahwa dari sekitar Rp 350 milliar yang dihabiskan oleh Golkar pada Pemilu bulan Juni 1999, sebesar Rp 80 milliar merupakan kontribusi pemilik Barito, Prajogo Pangestu. Selain itu Prajogo juga diduga telah melakukan transfer ke rekening milik mantan Jaksa Agung Andi Ghalib.



Bob Hasan Group
Pengusaha yang satu ini acap disebut dengan julukan Raja Kayu. Hal ini tentunya merujuk pada luasnya konsesi HPH yang dipegangnya. Satu hal yang membuatnya mampu memperoleh konsesi hutan yang sangat besar adalah kemauannya untuk menyediakan saham dan jabatan di dalam perusahaanya kepada anggota keluarga Soeharto.

Perusahaan-perusahaan Bob Hasan yang melakukan praktek KKN dengan keluarga Soeharto antara lain adalah, PT. Alas Helau; PT. Redjo Sari Bumi; PT. Santi Murni; dan PT. Sumber Mari.

Sigit Harjojudanto, putra tertua Soeharto, duduk sebagai Komisaris pada PT. Alas Helau yang memiliki HPH seluas 152.000 hektare di Kalimantan Timur. Sementara itu nama putra-putri Soeharto, yaitu Siti Hardijanti Rukmana (mbak Tutut), Sigit Harjojudanto, dan Probosutedjo (saudara tiri Soeharto), muncul dalam stuktur PT. Redjo Sari Bumi yang luasnya mencapai 70.000 hektare. Mereka masing-masing menempati posisi sebagai Komisaris, Direktur Utama, dan Komisaris Utama.

Pada PT. Santi Murni, yang memiliki lahan HPH seluas 333.000 hektare di Kalimantan Timur, terdapat 11% saham milik Yayasan Hanurata (yayasan yang dimiliki Soeharto). Hal yang sama juga dapat dijumpai pada PT. Sumber Mari, yang memiliki lahan HPH seluas 202.000 hektare, Sigit Harjojudanto memiliki saham sebesar 10% dan Bambang Trihatmojo sebesar 40%.

Melalui keuntungan-kuntungan yang diperoleh dari konsesi hutan inilah Bob Hasan membangun kerajaan bisnisnya di luar sektor hutan. Kauntungan tersebut juga banyak dipakai untuk membiyai bisnisnya dengan keluarga Cendana. Bob Hasan memiliki saham sebesar 10% di perusahaan Nusantara Ampera Bhakti (lebih dikenal dengan Nusamba). Diperusahaan ini Sigit Harjojudano juga memiliki saham sebesar 10%. Sementara tiga yayasan yang didirikan oleh Soeharto, yaitu Yayasan Darmais, Yayasan Supersemar, Yayasan Dekab, memiliki saham sekitar 80%.

Kedekatan hubungan antara Soeharto dengan Bob Hasan semakin jelas saat pengusaha kayu ini diangkat oleh Soeharto menjadi ketua Assosiasi Pengusaha Kayu Indonesia (APKINDO). Assosiasi ini selama satu dekade di masa pemerintahan Soeharto telah menjadi organisasi kuat yang mengatur tata distribusi kayu Indonesia.

Uang yang mengalir ke dalam APKINDO tidak sedikit. Sebagai contoh assosiasi ini mengharuskan anggotanya untuk membayar setiap meter kubik plywood yang diekspor. Total uang yang dikutip adalah US$ 15/M3, yang meliputi biaya promosi sebesar US$ 10/M3 dan biaya pengurusan sebesar US$ 5/M3. Peraturan ini paling tidak telah mengalirkan uang kedalam tas APKINDO sebesar US$ 1 milliar antara tahun 1983 hingga 1993.

Bob Hasan ternyata mengangkangi juga soal pengapalan plywood yang akan diekspor ke luar negeri. Di dalam catatan intern APKINDO tertanggal 8 Januari 1993 dituliskan bahwa “pemesanan kapal langsung dilakukan melalui Karana Lines, dan oleh karenanya para pengusaha plywood tak boleh melakukan pemesanan sendiri.” Karana Lines ternyata sebuah perusahaan yang 33.2% sahamnya dikuasai oleh Bob Hasan dan 66.4% lainnya dikuasai oleh dua perusahaan yang juga dimiliki oleh Bob Hasan. Sementara saham sisanya, sebesar 0.2%, dikuasai oleh Nanang Bambang Sardjono Gatot Subroto, saudara dari ayah angkat Bob Hasan, Gatot Subroto.

Tak cukup dengan monopoli pengapalan kayu lapis yang akan diekspor ke luar negeri, melalui jalur APKINDO, Bob Hasan juga mengharuskan para anggotanya untuk mengansurasikan semua plywood yang mereka ekspor melalui perusahaan asuransi Tugu Pratama Indo. Saham perusahaan asuransi ini, sebanyak 35%, ternyata dikuasai oleh Nusamba, yang merupakan perusahaan keluarga Soeharto.

APKINDO ternyata juga mewajibkan para anggotanya untuk memasarkan barang mereka melalui jaringan pemasaran yang dimiliki oleh Bob Hasan, antara lain yang terletak di Singapore, Hongkong, Korea Selatan, dan Jepang. Perusahaan pemeasaran yang terletak di Singapore dimiliki oleh Bob Hasan 100%.

Perlakukan sebagai “anak emas” kepada Bob Hasan di masa pemerintahan Soeharto semakin terbukti dengan diperbolehkannya ia meminjam dana pemerintah untuk reboisasi. Presiden Soeharto pada saat itu bahkan khusus membuatkan Kepres yang mengijinkan Bob Hasan mendapat pinjaman Rp 250 miliar untuk membiayai pembangunan pabrik kertas Kiani Kertas miliknya, yang membutuhkan dana US$ 1.1 milliar. PT. Kiani Kertas bahkan diberikan fasilitas tax holiday selama 10 tahun oleh pemerintah. Tatkala pemerintah melikuidasi beberapa bank swasta yang terbelit kredit macet, salah satunya adalah Bank Umum Nasional, yang merupakan milik Bob Hasan. Melalui mekanisme rekapitalisasi perbankan BUN memperoleh kucuran dana sebesar Rp 2 trilliun. Padahal kredit macet yang menimpa BUN tersebut banyak disebabkan oleh pembiayaan pabrik kertas milik Bob Hasan.

Sementara itu tiga dua kelompok usaha HPH lainnya, Djajanti, Kelompok Alas Kusuma dan Kelompok Kayu Lapis, kurang berhubungan dengan keluarga Soeharto di luar bisnis perkayuan.

Meskipun demikian, bukan berarti ketiga kelompok usaha ini tidak sama sekali melakukan praktek KKN dengan keluarga Soeharto atau dengan pejabat negara. Meskipun lebih sedikit dibanding Barito Pasific maupun Bob Hasan. Perusahaan Djajanti Djaja I dan Djajanti Djaja II, milik Djajanti Group, yang menguasai lahan HPH seluas 284,757 hektare di Kalimantan Tengah telah memberikan 1% saham kepada Sudwikatmono, saudara sepupu Soeharto. Konsesi Djajanti II telah dibatalkan oleh Departemen Kehutanan pada 8 Juli 1999.

Sementara itu PT. Maju Jaya Raya milik Alas Kusuma Group, yang menguasai 80,000 hektare HPH di Bengkulu telah menempatkan Dr. Ibnu Hartomo, saudara ipar Soeharto, sebagai Presiden Komisaris dan pemilik 10% saham pada perusahaan tersebut.

Meskipun Djajanti tidak banyak menempatkan keluarga Soeharto dalam kedudukan komisaris perusahaannya atau sebagai pemegang saham, namun Djajanti memberikan beberapa saham kepada mantan Menteri Pertanian Cosmas Batubara dan mantan Menteri Luar Negeri Ali Alatas.

M. Husni Thamrin
Jakarta, 30 Desember 1999
(I wrote this article when I am working in Indonesia Corruption Watch)

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Isaiah Berlin's Four Essays on Liberty in Indonesia Language


The Freedom Institute has published Isaiah Berlin’s Four Essays on Liberty. The book, which consists of four discussions of political philosophy, is one of a series of publications in the Freedom Institute’s Book Project. The purpose of this ambitious project is to contribute to the development of liberal thought in Indonesia.

“Freedom” and “liberty” are two words that have found their way into the Indonesian political discourse since the political reforms in 1998. The new political freedoms aspired to in Indonesian society include the freedom to organize, to establish political parties, as well as freedom of expression and the free discussion and dissemination of political ideas through publication mechanisms. In this way a great contribution is being made to the base of knowledge and political debate in Indonesia. Nevertheless the terms “liberty” or “freedom” are not always understood very well, sometimes even being understood negatively. In fact, freedom and liberal are laden with negative connotations in the political history of Indonesia. Liberalism is a Western term that is wrongly perceived as only promoting individualism and ignoring plurality. At a certain political level the term is even considered to be on a par with Communism.

The thinking of the Enlightenment, which was made famous by 18th-century French intellectuals, influenced Isaiah Berlin, a critic of universal and absolute ideas. This does not mean, however, that he is against individual liberty. Berlin was born in Riga, Latvia, June 6th, 1909 as the son of a Jewish timber merchant and spent his childhood in St. Petersburg, Russia. He died in Oxford, England, November 12th, 1997, of a heart attack.

Totalitarianism, which he witnessed in Russia under the Stalin government, alerted Berlin to the thesis that a reality of totalitarian ideas grows from a human desire for liberty, but is founded on a belief in absolute and universal rightness. Berlin reemphasized this idea in his article, “Determination of History,” in which he criticizes the concept of determinism that was put forward by historians and Marxist intellectuals. He labeled such intellectuals “Hedgehogs”, meaning that they were always trying to arrive at a single conclusion: one idea reflects one universal principle where the differences of reality had been convoluted into one coherent system, making heterogeneity in reality not an un-controlled chaos, but having one meaning and suggesting one goal.

Similarly, Berlin labeled other intellectuals “Foxes” – thinkers who did not have a single destination, but believe in a plurality where ideas do not need to be connected, although they should not contradict each other.

The essays of the title of his book, Four Essays on Liberty, refer to four twentieth century political themes. Berlin in fact discusses the four main concepts that he always debated with his critics. The first essay, “Historical Inevitability”, focuses on determinism and its relevance an understanding of man and history. The second, “Two Concepts of Liberty”, is concerned with moral judgment in historical and social thought. The idea discussed focuses on the need to distinguish between positive freedom and negative freedom and its relevance to the distinction between freedom and the conditions for freedom, considering also the freedoms of possession and acquisition. The essay “John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life” consider monism that explains the unity and harmony of human destination.

In his essays Berlin thought that people are so different that one value system common to all cannot exist. His distinction in the concept of freedom between positive freedom (that to which we are free) and negative freedom (that from which we are free) is well known. Positive freedom is the idea of human freedom, man’s ability to be his own master, and negative freedom is the traditional liberal concept that means the absence of obstacles in a person’s potential choices. He stated that a so-called fundamental freedom that is the ability to make choices is a condition for both freedoms and also a condition for humanity.