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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday his administration had carried out the most aggressive antigraft campaign in the country'€™s history.

He made the claim during an event held by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), whose audits often uncover evidence for law enforcement agencies fighting corruption.

'€œI believe no one in this room is denying that, currently, our country is carrying out the most aggressive anti-corruption campaign in our history,'€ the President said in his speech. '€œSome people ask: Does it mean there was no corruption [in the previous administration] since there were less people arrested for corruption? I say that is wrong. The truth is that the massive antigraft campaign going on now means that no one is above the law.

'€œSo, the more people got arrested, the more it shows that the country is serious in making the system better,'€ he continued.

Last year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) handled 70 graft cases, nearly twice the number of cases it handled in 2012. It has also managed to recover Rp 1.19 trillion (US$99 million) in state assets in 2013. In its attempt to deter corruption, the antigraft body has also started leveling money laundering charges since last year. It has also revealed a plan to start aggressively targeting corporations that have been implicated in graft cases.

At the end of his first term, Yu-dhoyono saw Aulia Pohan, the father of his daughter-in-law, convicted for graft for his role in the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI) graft case.

In his second term, Yudhoyono has seen many top members of his ruling Democratic Party (PD) arrested and convicted for graft by the KPK. Most recently, the KPK detained former PD chairman Anas Urbaningrum for his alleged role in the Hambalang graft scandal and launched a fresh probe into the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, which is led by senior PD politician Jero Wacik.

The many graft cases rocking the ruling party have taken a toll on its popularity, even though Yudhoyono has repeatedly claimed that they should be seen as examples of his commitment to combating graft indiscriminately.

In an effort to battle corruption, BPK head Hadi Poernomo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with government ministers to increase accountability. They include Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, as well as Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4) head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.