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fter months of investigation, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally named Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah a suspect on Tuesday for her alleged role in two graft cases that have implicated her younger brother Tubagus Chaeri '€œWawan'€ Wardhana.

Atut is not going to be joining Wawan inside the KPK detention center anytime soon as KPK chief Abraham Samad has said investigators have yet to collect all the evidence required to incarcerate the powerful governor, but it is obvious Tuesday'€™s move by the KPK marked the beginning of the end of a political dynasty.

Abraham said Atut would be charged with involvement in the provision of bribes worth Rp 1 billion (US$82,474) for then Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar to rule in favor of Lebak Deputy Regent, Amir Hamzah, in an election dispute the court was hearing. Atut is also accused of benefitting from budget markups in the procurement of medical equipment in South Tangerang municipality, of which her sister-in-law Airin Rahmi Diany is the current mayor.

But Abraham did not rule out the possibility of investigating other corruption, if not collusion and abuse of power, in cases where the role of Atut is traceable, given the fact that she has practically built a kingdom for herself and her family and cronies. Her siblings, in-laws and other family members hold public offices and have founded and expanded business entities apparently due to her influence, which unfortunately is not in and of itself illegal.

It will be a daunting challenge for the KPK to gather incriminating evidence, if any exists, that will reveal state losses caused by the political kinship Atut has nurtured and into which money may have flowed. It will not amount to the obliteration of a dynasty or an attack on a particular political party ahead of the 2014 elections, as many have claimed, if the KPK sticks to the facts and acts without fear or favor.

Nobody can deny the political nuances of the Atut case, given her position within the Golkar Party structure and the fierce rivalry among power brokers in regional elections as they warm up for next year'€™s electoral competition.

It is because Atut'€™s affiliation with Golkar that the KPK has a reason to suspect political motives behind alleged graft linked to her. As anti-corruption advocate Todung Mulya Lubis outlined in this paper a few weeks ago, political parties in this country have acted like corporations in their bids to raise operational funds.

The problem is their greed far outstrips their needs, which is why power tends to corrupt.

In many corruption cases involving politicians the KPK has investigated, little serious effort has been made to uncover the role of their parties as beneficiaries of the fraud. Most, if not all, of the graft cases have ended up in the disgrace of individual politicians, not the parties they represent.

With the political party law and election law unable to criminalize parties, the public will now rely on the KPK to act. Now a dynasty may crumble, one day corrupt parties must tumble.