Incoming Indonesian leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono faces a near-impossible task to fight corruption, but one graft-busting official who has transformed his district into a paragon of honesty offers hope for the task ahead.
In just nine years at the helm of Solok, a district in the lush, volcanic province of West Sumatra, Gamawan Fauzi has turned a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy into a finely tuned machine where hardly any cash slips away unnoticed.
Fauzi's achievement is no mean feat in a country where cronyism, bribes and family ties are the oil which lubricates the wheels of an economy that, unsurprisingly, is struggling to compete in a resurgent Asian region.
Yudhoyono, who takes over on October 20 after defeating incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri, has pledged to eradicate graft, a key move if he is to attract the foreign investment needed to make good on pledges of revamping the economy.
However, observers have warned he faces a herculean task as his minority government takes on a potentially hostile political elite, some of whom are allegedly implicated in the large scale abuses of power he must challenge.
Indonesia has been ranked as one of the world's most graft-prone countries by the Germany-based watchdog Transparency International, a credential also likely to weigh heavily on Yudhoyono's shoulders.
In West Sumatra alone, more than 65 provincial, district and municipal councillors have recently appeared in court on corruption charges - a picture repeated across the Southeast Asian archipelago. But while the country seems enveloped in a fog of dishonesty, Fauzi's Solok administration, which was recognised by the World Bank in 2003 for its success in promoting transparency, stands out.
This month Fauzi beat off 26 other candidates to scoop Indonesia's prestigious Bung Hatta Award, presented by a leading anti-graft watchdog named after one of the country's founders - the incorruptible Muhammad Hatta.
Fauzi became Solok district chief in 1995, immediately setting to work on closing loopholes in the bureaucracy that encouraged corrupt practices. He issued warnings to his underlings of tough sanctions for graft offences.
Leading by example, he stripped himself, his deputy and other key officials of the power to approve development projects - a lucrative authority elsewhere - and made his employees sign a "pact of integrity".
He also did away with cash payments for government projects, replacing easily-trousered piles of rupiah with the paper trail of bank transfers.
In a country where it is common practice for residents to bribe their way through a multitude of counters to obtain official documents or permits, Fauzi cut the number of contacts between service-seekers and officials to just one.
"These are normal things that should be done by every government executive," Fauzi says. "It is only because we are under abnormal conditions that it appears important."
While he has undoubtedly ruffled the feathers of those who once lined their pockets with ill-gotten cash, Fauzi's efforts to clean up the government have proved popular with his public, earning him a second five-year term in 2000.
To enhance accountability, he opened a complaints box to receive reports of malpractice and also founded an ombudsman of local activists, public leaders and academics to scrutinise his work.
During his nine year tenure, graft violations have led to 33 district officials having their promotions cancelled and 18 other have their careers put on hold or pay rises postponed. Two have lost their jobs.
Teten Masduki, one of the founders of the Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Watch group described Fauzi's achievements as "extraordinary".
"To look for potential candidates, in the Indonesian context, is a very, very difficult task," he said.
"Fauzi streamlined the bureaucracy, enforced a ban on bribery, cut high spending and much more. That needs encouragement, empowerment and support.
"What he has done is extraordinary by any standard," Masduki said.
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