M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has been told not to relent in its anti-graft campaign after disbanding the Anti-Corruption Investigation Team.
Anti-graft activist Ridaya La Ode Ngkowe of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said Tuesday that in the wake of the anti-graft team's disbandment, the government needs to increase the roles of the National Police and the Attorney General's Office in battling corruption.
""The decision to disband the anti-graft team is understandable as it's only an ad-hoc team... after a while it might begin to weaken existing agencies that the government should encourage to work harder in terms of coordination,"" Ridaya told The Jakarta Post.
Ridaya said the government's decision to end the mandate of the team, chaired by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, was justified given the team's lackluster performance.
""The team failed because coordination of investigations into corruption cases only occurred at the central level.""
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono set up the anti-graft team on May 4, 2005, to coordinate corruption prosecutions between the Attorney General's Office, the National Police and the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
The government officially disbanded the anti-graft team Monday. A 2004 presidential decree stated the team's tenure was for an initial two years and could be extended.
Over the last two years the team has handled 72 cases. Verdicts have been delivered and executed in only seven of these cases.
Hendarman said in its two years of existence, the anti-graft team recovered Rp 3.95 trillion (about US$430 million) in state assets from corruption suspects.
During its two-year term, the team spent Rp 25 billion of its Rp 41 billion operational budget.
Ridaya said the fact that the anti-graft team spent only a portion of its operational budget was an indication that it did not perform as expected.
A legal expert from the University of Indonesia, Rudi Satrio, said the Attorney General's Office and the National Police must now take the initiative in the fight against corruption.
He regretted, however, that the government decided not to extend the anti-graft team's tenure.
""Looking at the amount of state assets recovered, I think the team was actually quite successful.""
The anti-graft team should be given more time to process the backlog of corruption cases, he added.
Hendarman said dozens of cases left by the anti-graft team would be left to the Attorney General's Office, the National Police and the BPKP to follow up.
