Intelligence officers to screen KPK candidates

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman selection committee says it will request the help of intelligence officers in conducting background checks on candidates running for the chairmanship of the commission.

Commmittee deputy MH Ritonga said intelligence officers would be involved in the profile assessment phase of the selection process.

"Field investigations will get more intensive as the number of candidates is narrowed down," he said Thursday, as reported by kompas.com.

There are currently 17 candidates who have passed the second round of selections, which includes a written exam, and will undergo a profile assessment on August 2.

Two candidates from within the KPK, deputies Abdullah Hehamahua and Handoyo Sudrajat, are among those who made it into the next round. Deputies Chandra M. Hamzah, Ade Rahardja, and KPK spokesman Johan Budi were unsuccessful.

Ritonga added that media reports on the candidates had also affected the screening results.

"We track media reports on [candidates] and NGO reports on them. [We] also track public reports on them," he said, adding that reports on ethical breaches by Chandra and Ade in the M.Nazaruddin case had affected their scores.

Fugitive bribery suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer M. Nazaruddin accused Chandra and Ade of engineering his case by secretly meeting Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum. He alleged that the deputies had agreed not to question Anas in the case in exchange for support for their candidacy.