Analysts: Public unrest over KPK could destabilize nation

Hans David Tampubolon ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 11/07/2009 1:04 PM  |  National

Analysts and regional representatives warned the government that public unrest could jeopardize political stability unless justice was upheld in the alleged incrimination of the suspended deputies of the antigraft body.

"Research shows that poverty never leads to critical political instability because the poor can always find ways to survive by any means necessary.

"The case is quite different with injustice. Once the people's sense of justice is violated, it is only a matter of time before the nation crumbles. I believe Indonesia sits on the brink," regional representative Farouk Muhammad from West Nusa Tenggara said in a discussion on the mounting conflict between the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Political support for the antigraft body has been pouring in from numerous parties both at home and abroad since the police arrested suspended KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah last week.

The two had protested their arrest and the police charges, which they said were aimed at incriminating them and weakening the KPK, with wiretapped recordings as evidence played at the Constitutional Court earlier this week.

While a presidential fact-finding team is still investigating the events, public opinion is clearly supportive of the antigraft body.

Bowing down to the public pressure and the presidential fact-finding team, the police released Bibit and Chandra while revising their dossiers, which were recently turned down by the Attorney General's Office.

Speaking before the law commission of the House of Representatives on Thursday, National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri insisted the police had possessed enough evidence to prove the two guilty of abusing their powers and of extorting businessman Anggoro Widjoyo, owner of communication company PT Masaro Radiokom, through his younger brother, Anggodo Widjoyo.

The fact-finding team was expected to announce their findings and submit their recommendations to the President soon after the case reconstruction, which is scheduled today.

Bibit and Chandra, speaking in a joint press conference Friday, denied the police allegations, including what the police called strong evidence, as groundless, saying they had neither extorted Anggoro nor taken bribes from him.

Bambang Widjojanto, a member of the two KPK deputies' defense team, said during the discussion that the public was very sensitive to what it perceived as blatant injustice and abuse of power practiced with impunity.

"That's when the people will bond together in solidarity to fight against the injustice," he said.

University of Indonesia sociologist Thamrin Amal Tamagola said during the discussion that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had to take some measure of responsibility for the fiasco between the KPK, the police and the AGO.

"This is an escalation following SBY's statement in the Kompas daily that stated that a superbody like the KPK should not go unchecked," he said.

"The President's implication has led the police and the AGO to put pressure on the antigraft body. Looking at the context of such a presidential statement, the President should have chosen his words more carefully," he added.

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