Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 09/23/2009 12:19 PM
Despite widespread controversy, the President is slated to issue a government regulation in-lieu-of-law (Perppu) on the appointment of three interim leaders to fill vacant posts at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Cabinet secretary Sudi Silalahi said on Tuesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had already signed the Perppu and was scheduled to announce it at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport this morning, prior to departing for the G20 summit in Pittsburg, the United States.
"We are now drafting a presidential decree *on the official suspension of three KPK leaders*," he told reporters after meeting with State Secretary Hatta Radjasa.
The President announced last week he would issue the regulation after consulting with the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the leadership of the House of Representatives, amid what he called an emergency situation.
He was referring to suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar who is facing murder charges and two KPK deputies, Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, suspected of abusing their power.
Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis and Teten Masduki of Transparency International Indonesia were nominated as potential replacement candidates.
The planned Perppu has sparked wide controversy, with corruption watchdogs and the antigraft body arguing the President should not interfere in the independent institution's internal affairs and that the 2002 Corruption Law did not regulate the minimum number of KPK leaders.
The KPK advisory board member, Abdullah Hehamahua, warned that the Perppu on the selection of interim leaders was against the KPK Law. "President Yudhoyono needs to read the KPK Law carefully to get a better understanding of it," he told reporters after the meeting with KPK leaders on Tuesday.
He added the President could not interfere in the KPK's internal affairs.
Lawyers for the KPK have also sent a letter to Yudhoyono asking him not to issue the Perppu they said went against the law.
"The Perppu risks legitimating the police's decision declaring KPK leaders as suspects," Bambang Widjojanto told a press conference on Tuesday.
Jaleswari Pramowardhani, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), questioned the Perppu, saying the replacement of the three suspended KPK leaders did not qualify as an emergency situation.
"The KPK is an independent institution and must not be interfered with. That is stipulated under the KPK Law," Jaleswari told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
By appointing three temporary leaders, she said, the President was interfering with the antigraft body.
"This could set a bad precedent, allowing for future government interference in any institution in this nation," she said.
Another controversy has also emerged as Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud M.D. criticized the police's move to incriminate the two KPK deputies, stating their alleged power abuses should be brought to the State Administrative Court.
Police have been also under fire for defending Masaro Radiokom president Anggoro Wijaya and Djoko S. Tjandra, the former owner of Bank Bali, to whom Bibit and Chandra issued travel bans for their respective law violations. National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri defended the police's move and said the two KPK deputies would also be facing other charges. (bbs)
