The tide has now turned against the nationalist-oriented party after three years of crackdown on legislative corruption in the country brought to justice lawmakers from the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party.  

To some extent the case may put, albeit indirectly, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in the spotlight as investigators found evidence that a businesswoman, whose husband is a lawmaker with the Muslim-based party, had provided the money.

These parties are regular players in the country’s power-sharing scheme which has been in place following the fall of monolithic New Order regime in 1998.

Some may be tempted to connect the disclosure of the money trail in the election of Miranda six years ago with the fallout from the recent inquiry into the Bank Century bailout, in which the PDI-P played an important part in the House’s endorsement of a resolution that concluded the bailout was flawed and prone to corruption last week.

Such a suspicion looks to receive justification, as the graft case is expected to implicate lawmakers from Golkar and the PPP, other parties that declared the bailout policy a violation.  The bribery case only surfaced almost two years ago after former PDI-P lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno confessed to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that he had received several traveler’s checks worth Rp 500 million (US$54,500) from his party leaders soon after he voted for Miranda.  

Other names that accepted the money include PDI-P prominent lawmakers such as Panda Nababan and Emier Moeis, according to the indictment of former PDI-P legislator Dudhie Makmun Murod, the first suspect to stand trial in the bribery case.

Why it took so long for the KPK to look into the case and bring those involved in the alleged bribery to court may be a matter of technicalities. The KPK has for sure prepared a script that will unveil one fact after another about the case. There may be a lot of suspense, thrills and surprises before all the characters and their roles are presented in court.

We have no doubt that the KPK, despite attempts to undermine its credibility which climaxed in the alleged conspiracy to frame two of its leaders last year, will not rest with those who received the bribes, only because, as anywhere in the world, it always takes two to corrupt.

KPK track records clearly show a high degree of integrity and credibility that has apparently eluded other law enforcement agencies, at least in the eyes of the public.

Thanks to its independence, the antigraft commission did not hesitate to ensnare Aulia Pohan, a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s extended family, in the misuse of Rp 100 billion in Bank Indonesia funds in 2003.

The public is waiting for yet another bold move from the KPK to dismiss political barriers that may stand in between the people and justice in the latest bribery case to have struck the House. The KPK has to keep any attempts to rescue the big names at bay amid possible moves among the power brokers to negotiate the case.

The KPK will lose its hard-won public confidence if certain parties are left unpunished in the mass bribery case, which looks less complicated than the Bank Century case now waiting on its doorstep.

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