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n a bid to improve its reputation for graft prosecution, the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO), once deemed the country'€™s most corrupt institution, has established a special taskforce consisting of dozens of its best prosecutors to expedite investigations into high profile cases.

Employing more than 9,000 prosecutors around the country, the AGO has been criticized for perceived lenience to high-ranking officials, whom it has rarely managed to send to prison.

It is often compared unfavorably with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has imprisoned many high-ranking officials, ranging from active ministers to an active Constitutional Court chief justice, with only 96 prosecutors, all on secondment from the AGO.

Junior attorney general for special crimes Widyo Pramono insisted that none of the KPK'€™s 96 prosecutors would be withdrawn to serve at the new anticorruption taskforce.

'€œThe special taskforce will not weaken the KPK, as its 29 members are picked from among our best prosecutors, based solely on merit.

'€œSome of its 29 members used to serve at the KPK but are no longer there. After serving at the KPK they were sent to AGO branch offices across the country and we need them back to empower the new team,'€ Widyo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

AGO prosecutors seconded to the KPK have a maximum 10-year non-renewable tenure at the antigraft body. They must return to the AGO afterwards.

'€œShould the KPK need more prosecutors, we are ready to lend ours anytime,'€ Widyo continued.

He also revealed that the new taskforce was not targeting any specific corruption cases.

'€œWe have many corruption cases ranging from public officials'€™ suspicious bank accounts to graft in the banking system. The point is that the team will soon start working and it will be feared by those stealing state money.'€

Earlier, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo was strongly criticized by antigraft campaigners for his surprise appointment as attorney general of Prasetyo, who, prior to his appointment, was still an active member of the NasdDem Party. NasDem was among the political parties that supported Jokowi'€™s presidential bid.

Just weeks after his appointment, Prasetyo proved himself a sharp blade by arresting a senior Golkar Party politician, Irianto Syafiuddin, who was named a suspect in a graft case four years ago.

Gadjah Mada University'€™s (UGM) Corruption Studies Center (PUKAT) director Zainal Arifin Mochtar applauded the establishment of the anticorruption task force, but he warned the AGO to remain non-partisan in prosecuting graft cases involving officials from pro-government and opposition parties.

'€œThe establishment of the taskforce is a good move, but the most important thing is that the AGO and the KPK improve their coordination in the future,'€ Zainal said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Emerson Yuntho challenged the new taskforce to reopen past graft cases put on hold by the AGO.

He also warned Prasetyo not to use the program as a means of improving his image after the fierce public backlash to his appointment.