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Ada Pertanyaan? Hubungi Kami Marcell Sihombing, Fitri N. Heriani
KPK Office. Photo by: RES
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been thrust center stage once again following President Joko Widodo’s decision to postpone the proposed revision to Law No. 30 of 2002 on the KPK (KPK Law). The plan to amend the KPK Law has been strongly challenged by the public, as many of the amended provisions are seen as an attempt to disempower the notorious anticorruption body.
Commenting on the current stalemate at a discussion event held at the Indonesia Jentera School of Law in Jakarta on 29 October 2015, Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a political expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), asserted that the postponement was the incorrect move for the president to be making. According to Bakti, the plan to amend the KPK Law should be shot down as quickly as possible, as forcibly amending the KPK Law would only serve to disempower to KPK.
“The plan to revise KPK Law should be abolished instead of being merely postponed. Once the Draft Bill on the KPK has been submitted to the House of Representatives, it can no longer be called off. We must reject any amendment to the KPK Law,” declared Mr. Bakti firmly during the Jentera event.
According to Mr. Bakti, there is no need to negotiate the postponement or extension of the deliberation process as regards the amendment to the KPK Law any further. Instead, any potential amendment should be completely annulled, as it will only serve to hinder the KPK in the carrying out of its duties. Mr. Bakti suggests that the KPK Law should only be amended once Indonesia’s current political instabilities and warring factions have stabilized.
Lalola Easter from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) expressed her agreement and solidarity with Mr. Bakti. Easter further outlined some five recommendations for the president as regards rescuing the embattled KPK.
Firstly, the process for selecting a new KPK leader should not be started over from the beginning. According to Ms. Easter, starting the selection process over from scratch would be highly counterproductive, even though the three remaining candidates have sketchy track records. Starting the whole selection process over again would require more time, Easter stated, as well as an increased budget allocation, with no guarantee at the end that the selected candidates would be any more suitable for the position than the current trio was.
Secondly, the criminalization of anti-corruption activists must cease immediately. With this in mind, a Presidential Directive to stop such criminalization should not be considered an intervention intended to impair the enforcement of the law.
Instead, Ms. Easter asserted that action at the presidential level was necessary, since the ongoing criminal investigations into two currently inactive KPK commissioners had been heavily tainted by the non-legal interests of certain parties, whose primary intention was to impair and slow down the KPK’s ongoing fight against corruption.
Thirdly, Ms. Easter expressed her supports the abolishment of the plan to amend the KPK Law, as any such amendment, should it pass into law, would put the KPK’s very existence in jeopardy. Fourthly, corruptors should not be allowed to enjoy any remission or reduction to their sentences, as this would contradict the intended deterrent effect inherent in the KPK’s corruption eradication efforts. And finally, cabinet members and political parties backing the government should unite in support of President Widodo’s goal of eradicating corruption.
Bivitri Susanti, also a lecturer at Jentera, added that amending the KPK Law was akin to opening Pandora’s Box. “Once it is opened, then all hell breaks loose,” stressed Ms. Susanti in a speech made at the Jentera discussion event.
During her speech, Ms. Susanti expressed her belief that the president was postponing the amendment to the KPK Law in order to focus his efforts upon handling Indonesia’s stagnating economy. However, Ms. Susanti also stated that any focus on the economy had to be accompanied by legal certainty within the business sector, specifically as it relates to matters of investment. In this regard, Susanti expressed her confusion as to why the president was paying so little attention to the legal sector.
Another comment came from Father Benny Susetyo, an expert in religious and social affairs, who asserted that President Widodo’s power lies with the Indonesian people. In Susetyo’s view, the public must be prepared to remind President Widodo about his pledge to eradicate corruption, as set out under the so-called Nawacita (Nine Ideal Aspirations).
“There is actually the political will from president Widodo to completely eradicate corruption. However, he has solely focused his efforts on the economic sector during his first year, in a manner similar to that of the New Order era,” asserted Father Susetyo.
Father Susetyo further asserted that corruption continued to increase year after year here, as the problem had never been treated as a common enemy. In his view, the corrupt behavior that the nation inherited during the Dutch colonial era has become a stubbornly persistent habit. Indonesia’s civil society will thus never be able to advance unless such cultural stagnation is systematically addressed.
Father Susetyo suggested that the government needs to find new ways of nipping corruption, so often the preserve of the country’s political parties, in the bud once and for all. Many of Indonesia’s political parties continue to engage in corrupt practices by obliging nominated candidates to make sizeable financial contributions to their respective political vehicles. Therefore, according to Susetyo, the government should handle this matter by amending the Law on Political Parties, so that it defines clearer and stricter provisions.
(sp)
Marcell Sihombing, Fitri N. Heriani
KPK Office. Photo by: RES
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been thrust center stage once again following President Joko Widodo’s decision to postpone the proposed revision to Law No. 30 of 2002 on the KPK (KPK Law). The plan to amend the KPK Law has been strongly challenged by the public, as many of the amended provisions are seen as an attempt to disempower the notorious anticorruption body.
Commenting on the current stalemate at a discussion event held at the Indonesia Jentera School of Law in Jakarta on 29 October 2015, Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a political expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), asserted that the postponement was the incorrect move for the president to be making. According to Bakti, the plan to amend the KPK Law should be shot down as quickly as possible, as forcibly amending the KPK Law would only serve to disempower to KPK.
“The plan to revise KPK Law should be abolished instead of being merely postponed. Once the Draft Bill on the KPK has been submitted to the House of Representatives, it can no longer be called off. We must reject any amendment to the KPK Law,” declared Mr. Bakti firmly during the Jentera event.
According to Mr. Bakti, there is no need to negotiate the postponement or extension of the deliberation process as regards the amendment to the KPK Law any further. Instead, any potential amendment should be completely annulled, as it will only serve to hinder the KPK in the carrying out of its duties. Mr. Bakti suggests that the KPK Law should only be amended once Indonesia’s current political instabilities and warring factions have stabilized.
Lalola Easter from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) expressed her agreement and solidarity with Mr. Bakti. Easter further outlined some five recommendations for the president as regards rescuing the embattled KPK.
Firstly, the process for selecting a new KPK leader should not be started over from the beginning. According to Ms. Easter, starting the selection process over from scratch would be highly counterproductive, even though the three remaining candidates have sketchy track records. Starting the whole selection process over again would require more time, Easter stated, as well as an increased budget allocation, with no guarantee at the end that the selected candidates would be any more suitable for the position than the current trio was.
Secondly, the criminalization of anti-corruption activists must cease immediately. With this in mind, a Presidential Directive to stop such criminalization should not be considered an intervention intended to impair the enforcement of the law.
Instead, Ms. Easter asserted that action at the presidential level was necessary, since the ongoing criminal investigations into two currently inactive KPK commissioners had been heavily tainted by the non-legal interests of certain parties, whose primary intention was to impair and slow down the KPK’s ongoing fight against corruption.
Thirdly, Ms. Easter expressed her supports the abolishment of the plan to amend the KPK Law, as any such amendment, should it pass into law, would put the KPK’s very existence in jeopardy. Fourthly, corruptors should not be allowed to enjoy any remission or reduction to their sentences, as this would contradict the intended deterrent effect inherent in the KPK’s corruption eradication efforts. And finally, cabinet members and political parties backing the government should unite in support of President Widodo’s goal of eradicating corruption.
Bivitri Susanti, also a lecturer at Jentera, added that amending the KPK Law was akin to opening Pandora’s Box. “Once it is opened, then all hell breaks loose,” stressed Ms. Susanti in a speech made at the Jentera discussion event.
During her speech, Ms. Susanti expressed her belief that the president was postponing the amendment to the KPK Law in order to focus his efforts upon handling Indonesia’s stagnating economy. However, Ms. Susanti also stated that any focus on the economy had to be accompanied by legal certainty within the business sector, specifically as it relates to matters of investment. In this regard, Susanti expressed her confusion as to why the president was paying so little attention to the legal sector.
Another comment came from Father Benny Susetyo, an expert in religious and social affairs, who asserted that President Widodo’s power lies with the Indonesian people. In Susetyo’s view, the public must be prepared to remind President Widodo about his pledge to eradicate corruption, as set out under the so-called Nawacita (Nine Ideal Aspirations).
“There is actually the political will from president Widodo to completely eradicate corruption. However, he has solely focused his efforts on the economic sector during his first year, in a manner similar to that of the New Order era,” asserted Father Susetyo.
Father Susetyo further asserted that corruption continued to increase year after year here, as the problem had never been treated as a common enemy. In his view, the corrupt behavior that the nation inherited during the Dutch colonial era has become a stubbornly persistent habit. Indonesia’s civil society will thus never be able to advance unless such cultural stagnation is systematically addressed.
Father Susetyo suggested that the government needs to find new ways of nipping corruption, so often the preserve of the country’s political parties, in the bud once and for all. Many of Indonesia’s political parties continue to engage in corrupt practices by obliging nominated candidates to make sizeable financial contributions to their respective political vehicles. Therefore, according to Susetyo, the government should handle this matter by amending the Law on Political Parties, so that it defines clearer and stricter provisions.
(sp)