In a country with a worldwide reputation for endemic corruption, Indonesia's new, untainted Constitutional Court stood out as a beacon of probity and hope for the evolution of a graft-free future.
But that stature and prospect have suffered a major blow with the arrest earlier this month of the chief justice of the Constitutional Court, Ali Mochtar, on charges of taking bribes worth the equivalent of $260,000.
The officers from the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian initials KPK, also claim to have found the drugs ecstasy and marijuana in Mochtar's Constitutional Court office.
Although Indonesians have become used to the KPK striking out at the country's rich, famous and powerful since the organization's creation in 2003, the arrest of Mochtar has shocked both local people and foreigners doing business in the country.
The arrest reaffirms Indonesia's international reputation as a risky investment target where little faith can be put in the impartiality of the courts in contract or other disputes with local partners.
Mochtar denies the allegations, but if they prove true it will be a major setback not only to the development of clean institutions in Indonesia but also to the advance of democracy nearly 14 years after the ouster of dictator President Suharto.
Parliamentary elections are due in April next year and a vote for a new president in July. Results of Indonesian elections are frequently contested in court, but with the honesty of the Constitutional Court now in question, many are questioning whether the outcome of elections can be trusted.
The allegation is that local politicians in Java and Kalimantan gave the money to Mochtar in return for his ordering that the results of elections held in August be scrapped and new votes held.
Mochtar was appointed chief justice in April. He was previously a member of parliament for the Golkar party, the political wing of the 30-year dictatorship of President Suharto.
Three of the other people arrested on allegations of involvement in the Mochtar case are also senior Golkar members.
Golkar remains a powerful political force, but the charges against Mochtar have further undermined the already troubled campaign for the presidency of the party's leader and reputedly Indonesia's richest man, Aburizal Bakrie.
The Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who must retire next year after serving two terms, has fared no better at the hands of the KPK graftbusters.
Since it started operations in 2003, the KPK, which was modelled on the famed Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong, has investigated and brought to court 86 cases of bribery and corruption related to government contracts and budgets. In all cases the charges were upheld and the defendants convicted.
Late last year, the KPK reached into the upper levels of Yudhoyono's administration when the Democratic Party chairman, Anas Urbaningrum, and the Sports Minister, Andi Mallarangeng, were charged with offences stemming from an estimated $42 million in over-spending on a sports centre.
The two have not yet been tried, but several other Democratic Party members are already serving prison sentences over the affair.
Inevitably, the KPK has critics and enemies.
Some human rights advocates mistrust the KPK's unchecked powers to authorize wiretaps, impose travel bans, demand financial information on suspects, freeze bank accounts and detain suspects.
Politicians have made several unsuccessful attempts to curb the KPK's power. The organization and its 750 officers have also had a running battle with Indonesia's national police.
After the KPK started investigating allegations of corruption against senior police officers in 2009, a conspiracy was hatched to frame the KPK chairman Antasari Azhar with murder. But the plot was exposed in court and a national commission launched to recommend reforms of Indonesia's law enforcement agencies. •
Indonesia's reputation for corruption fails to deter Canadian business
Despite its reputation for corruption, Indonesia remains a favourite destination for business and investment among Canadian entrepreneurs.
A recent survey by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the Singapore-based Canada-ASEAN Business Forum found that Indonesia is the second favourite destination for Canadian business people among the 10 countries of Southeast Asia.
The report found 58% of those surveyed are active in Indonesia, second only to Singapore at 60%. Malaysia is third at 53%.
However, Indonesia also displays all the barriers to doing business encountered by Canadian business people.
The top risk of doing business in the 10 countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is corruption, cited by 67% of those surveyed. Second is inconsistent laws and regulations, noted by 60%, and third is the risk of intellectual property theft, which 59% of those surveyed said is a problem.
Even so, Canadians see Southeast Asia as worth the risk, and a profitable place to do business. The survey found that 63% of Canadian businesses said their enterprises were profitable within three years of starting operations in ASEAN.
The same proportion said they have increased their investment in the region in the last two years.
Optimism about the future of business in the region is even higher: 81%.
Most Canadian businesses operating in ASEAN countries are small or medium-sized. Forty-five percent of those surveyed reported a turnover of less than $1 million in 2012, and 74% employ fewer than 50 people.
Nearly two-thirds of Canadian businesses in Southeast Asia are offering professional services. Manufacturing accounts for 16% of Canadian operations, and 15% are in the oil and natural gas industries.
