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Editorial: Antigraft resistance
After a decade in existence, Indonesiaâs antigraft body must be familar with the hostility greeting its officials with every case that it brings forward
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fter a decade in existence, Indonesia's antigraft body must be familar with the hostility greeting its officials with every case that it brings forward. On Wednesday, lawmaker Desmond J. Mahesa of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party reminded an official of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that the body should be audited before the House of Representatives approved its proposed budget. An audit of the KPK's performance is a must, the former activist said, 'because it is not a prophet-like body that can do no wrong and is beyond the law.'
Yet, too many politicians have let voters down and have landed in jail for graft. Scores of the House's legislators and members of legislative councils across the archipelago have been prosecuted by the KPK, along with executives of private firms. Early this year the Home Ministry listed 290 regents, mayors and regents who had become suspects, defendants and convicts in mostly graft cases.
The gaffes of the KPK have lead to widespread ridicule ' rifts among its leaders, its suspected discrimination in targeting corruption suspects, the latest fuss over a gift of a guitar presented to Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo by the rock band Metallica, when it last performed here. The guitar has been declared proof of 'gratification', as public officials are banned from receiving gifts, and Jokowi has agreed to have it sent to a museum.
In the latest beef import scandal implicating the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), questions have been raised regarding the suspected targeting of the Islamic party. The ongoing trial of the beef import firm's executives, however, is increasingly revealing that Islam had nothing to do with what is looking like an earnest 'fund-raising' effort for the 2014 election campaign ' an effort other parties might not be able to claim they are innocent of.
On balance, the KPK remains among our few islands of integrity. Public support is evident in the reactions against each attempt to weaken the body. A case in point is the widespread campaign of the 'gecko versus the crocodile', when KPK leaders faced the powerful police detective chief Susno Duadji, who has since been convicted of graft.
This support was apparently strong enough to make legislators drop attempts to change the law on the KPK and annul its authority to tap phones, but in exchange, the law on the corruption court was changed to enable courts at the provincial levels, which are feared to be more vulnerable given the lack of credible judges.
Like the House, the National Police have shown little intention to cooperate with the national antigraft movement, an intent that was most evident in last year's drama where KPK officers spent the night at the Traffic Police headquarters. The KPK officers were trying to seize police files regarding a current case on the alleged mark-up of vehicle simulators.
No less than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also once berated the KPK for acting 'like God'. But wise politicians and leaders should quickly check the public pulse and realize that they have only brought investigations of graft upon themselves.
