BPKP chief urged to tell who ordered KPK audit

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 06/30/2009 10:57 AM  |  Presidential Election

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's denial of having ordered the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) to audit the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has failed to tame speculation behind his statement on the graft body.

BPKP chief Didi Widayadi has insisted on several occasions that he had received orders from the President, and would not back down from his plan to audit the KPK.

"It's impossible that a state institution like BPKP could take action without an order, therefore the BPKP chief must tell the public the truth," anti-graft activist Saldi Isra told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Saldi, a lecturer from Andalas University in Padang, said it was important for the public to know so they could properly judge the case.

The issue was triggered by Yudhoyono's statement on Kompas daily news published last Thursday on the KPK's extraordinary power.

"In regard to the KPK, I have really given a warning that power must not go unchecked. This KPK already has extraordinary power. It seems its responsibility is only to God," he told Kompas editorial staff when visiting the newspaper Wednesday.

On the same day the statement was published, the BPKP chief and his team came to the KPK and expressed his intention to audit KPK's operations, including its wiretapping equipment on the basis of the president's "indirect" order.

Under heavy public pressure, the President confronted Didi's statement saying he never gave such orders, and said the BPKP was not authorized to audit a state institution that was not under the President, such as the KPK.

Lawmaker Azlaini Agus from the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction said the BPKP had crossed the line with its plan to audit the KPK.

She said SBY's political rivals could use this issue as a weapon to question the incumbent's commitment towards corruption eradication efforts.

Saldi said Yudhoyono must summon the BPKP chief and make everything clear.

"I'm afraid there is someone who ordered him *Didi* to conduct the audit but we don't know whether it was Yudhoyono himself or his middle man or someone else."

Meanwhile Febri Diansyah from the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said the public must be really careful in seeing this issue.

"This is not only a matter of whether the BPKP has the authority to audit KPK or not, the root of this problem is Yudhoyono's statement that revealed his stance on the existence of the commission."

He suspected Yudhoyono's statement was part of the "attack" to weaken the KPK, which had been impartial in arresting big-time corruption suspects, including former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of Yudhoyono's eldest son.

He pointed out several events as examples for scenario to weaken the KPK, including the BPKP's plan to withdraw its 25 officials assigned at the commission, and the effort to retract the KPK's authority to wiretap as well as a bill draft to put the Corruption Court under the district court, which was widely known as corrupt. (hdt)

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