TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
KPK scolds Yudhoyono for replacement plan
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders on Tuesday lambasted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for insisting on establishing a selection committee to replace outgoing commissioner Busyro Moqoddas, who is slated to wrap up his term in December
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
C
orruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders on Tuesday lambasted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for insisting on establishing a selection committee to replace outgoing commissioner Busyro Moqoddas, who is slated to wrap up his term in December.
KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto questioned the President's intention to form the committee despite the antigraft body's formal objection earlier submitted to the State Palace and the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
'We wrote a formal letter [to the President and] the ministry two months ago, but we didn't get a response. We are surprised to find out that the committee has already been established,' Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Busyro's term will end one year ahead of the other four KPK leaders ' current chairman Abraham Samad, commissioners Bambang, Adnan Pandu Praja and Zulkarnain ' who all began their terms in 2011, one year after Busyro was elected commissioner in 2010.
The government argues that the replacement is mandated by KPK law that stipulates the maximum term of a member is four years. The law also mandates the government to carry out a selection process if a commissioner's term is to end.
The KPK suggests the government let Busyro remain at his post until 2015, when the rest of the leaders' tenures are up.
'We, the remaining four, could carry out our duties well until our tenures end. But, if the government insists on replacing Busyro then it can pick a candidate from the previous selection process in 2011. This is more efficient than going through another selection process,' Bambang said.
KPK chief Abraham Samad expressed similar optimism.
Yudhoyono, whose administration is slated to end in October, has appointed Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin to lead a committee of nine members to select Busyro's replacement.
While Amir's term ends in two months, a selection process usually takes three to six months.
Bambang Soesatyo, a lawmaker from House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, deplored Yudhoyono's decision to form the committee, adding that Yudhoyono's insistence could be interpreted by the public as a way to install a 'preferred' candidate to safeguard his personal interests after he leaves the State Palace.
'Another alternative the government can opt for is to extend Busyro's tenure until 2015, so that the government could select all five KPK commissioners at once in 2015,' Soesatyo said.Responding to Soesatyo, Amir said there was no legal basis that allowed the tenure extension of a KPK commissioner.
According to the presidential decree that set up the team, Amir will work with former KPK commissioner Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, former KPK advisor Abdullah Hehamahua, former rector of the Indonesian Institute of Police Science (PTIK) Farouk Muhammad, junior attorney general for special crime Widyo Pramono, the Law and Human Rights Ministry's human rights protection director general Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, State Islamic University (UIN) rector Komaruddin Hidayat, University of Indonesia (UI) sociologist Imam Prasodjo and UI management science professor Rhenald Kasali to select potential candidates to replace Busyro.
