Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali resigned from his ministerial post today (26/05) after having been named a suspect in a corruption case by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last week. Ali is accused of mishandling the country’s hajj pilgrimage fund. This fund is centrally managed by the government and contains deposits paid by people who want to make the holy journey to Mecca (Saudi Arabia). Ali resigned in order to concentrate fully on his defense in the graft case.

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The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of Indonesia has named Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali (who is also Chairman of the Islamic political party PPP) a suspect in a graft case. Reportedly, Ali engaged in self-enrichment by deliberately mishandling state funds that were allocated for the hajj pilgrimage covering financial year 2012-2013. Funds allocated to the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca totaled over IDR 1 trillion (USD $87 million) in that year. KPK spokesman Johan Budi confirmed the case.

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Transparency International has released its Corruption Perceptions Index of 2013. This index assesses "the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians" in 177 countries around the world. Berlin-based and non-partisan Transparency International uses polls to determine perceived corruption in the selected countries. Indonesia rose four spots from 118 in last year's index to 114 in the 2013 edition but held the same score as last year (3.2 points).

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Berlin-based Transparency International released the 2014 edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) earlier this week. In the new edition Indonesia was ranked 107th (out a total of 175 countries), up from 114th in the previous edition. As such, Indonesia continues to improve gradually through the ranks of the index. However, with a score of 34 (out of a possible - and perfect - score of 100) the country still lags behind its regional peers such as Singapore (84), Malaysia (52) and the Philippines (38).

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