T

he elites of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) finally allowed the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday to confiscate five cars believed to be connected to a money laundering case allegedly involving the party's former chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq.

But the damage has already been done. The Muslim-based party's move to deny entry to KPK investigators who were mandated to seize the evidence, not to mention televised debates that exacerbated rather than calmed the tension, only served to raise eyebrows over whether the party was really committed to tackling graft through law enforcement.

After two days of executive meetings, the PKS also filed a report with the National Police against 10 KPK investigators for 'unpleasant conduct' and against KPK spokesman Johan Budi for defamation. The legal measure, although legitimate, sent the wrong signal to the public that the party is waging war on the anticorruption commission.

For the record, PKS lawmaker Fachri Hamzah openly demanded the dissolution of the KPK during a meeting at the House of Representatives in October 2011. PKS leaders said the controversial statement was personal, but admitted other party members shared the view.

The PKS also refused to help the KPK locate Nunun Nurbaeti, a corruption suspect who was on the run and the wife of PKS lawmaker Adang Daradjatun, saying the party would not interfere in the case.

On the other hand, the PKS has blocked a political move within the House to weaken the antigraft body through a revision of the KPK Law. The PKS is among a few parties in the legislature that want the KPK to keep its wiretapping powers.

In the wake of the KPK's investigation into the beef import scandal involving Luthfi, however, it will be interesting to see if the party changes tack and mounts a retaliatory attack on the KPK, particularly after PKS chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin and chairman Anis Matta had to face the music regarding the case on Tuesday.

Indeed, some PKS politicians have begun to cry foul at the KPK investigation into the meat scandal, which they say is politically motivated, as the investigation comes just ahead of the 2014 elections. They also accuse the KPK of discriminating against Luthfi by charging him with money laundering when he has never been caught red-handed accepting a bribe from another suspect in the case, Ahmad Fathanah, who led the KPK to Luthfi. In the previous graft case involving former beauty pageant Angelina Sondakh, for example, the KPK failed to charge the Democratic Party politician with money laundering.

The PKS may talk tough about the KPK waging an unjust war on corruption, but the facts show all the parties holding House seats cannot escape the KPK's attention.

The ruling Democratic Party felt the pinch of the KPK crackdown through the targeting of a number of its elite politicians. The impact of this has been extraordinary, the party's electability rating has plummeted, forcing it to take rescue measures in the form of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the party's cofounder and chief patron, taking over the chief executive post.

Like or not, what makes the Democrats different from the PKS is that the former allow the KPK to enforce the law and refrain from any show of force, let alone animosity toward the antigraft body, at least in public. It will be very easy for the Democrats, given their access to power, to strike back at KPK if they so wish.

The KPK has so far proved it does not launch investigations without solid preliminary evidence. Resistance to the KPK's moves, or even the attempted obstruction of justice, will not work as everything will be disclosed in court.

Furthermore, the public will stand behind the KPK in the event of a fight back, not because the KPK represents an angelic force, but because the public is simply disgusted with corruption.