JP

With the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in total paralysis, following the move by the National Police to name its chairman Abraham Samad a suspect in a document-forgery case, the House of Representatives has called on President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to appoint new commissioners for the antigraft body.

Lawmakers urged Jokowi to issue a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) naming acting commissioners, as the KPK must have at least three commissioners to continue to function. The antigraft agency is normally run by five commissioners, however, since late last year only four commissioners have been available after Busyro Muqoddas'€™ term expired.

The Perppu would allow the President to appoint acting KPK commissioners to replace Abraham and KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjajanto, who has also been named a suspect by the police.

'€œA Perppu is required to decide what to do next; whether we must expedite the selection of a new chairman or install an acting chairman,'€ House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said on Tuesday.

Other lawmakers, including senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Pramono Anung Wibowo, concurred with Fadli, calling on President Jokowi to swiftly issue a decree to save the KPK.

'€œThe KPK spearheads the anti-corruption movement in this country, and it is still very much needed to combat corruption here, which remains rampant,'€ said Pramono, a close confidant of PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Antigraft activists, however, have opposed the move on the grounds that inserting acting commissioners could be used by political parties to stop the ongoing investigation into the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) scandal, to which Megawati has been linked in her capacity as president between 2001 and 2004.

The attack on the KPK reached its peak on Tuesday with the announcement by the police that Abraham had been named a suspect, while similar moves are expected to be made against 21 KPK investigators in separate criminal cases.

The police acknowledged that their investigators had officially named Abraham a suspect on Feb. 9, but they waited to announce the decision on Tuesday, a day after the South Jakarta District Court annulled the KPK'€™s move to name politically wired Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect in a graft case.

Budi, a friend and former adjutant to Megawati when she served as president between 2002 and 2004, is a National Police chief candidate.

Probably because of pressure from his own political allies, who have demanded the inauguration of Budi as police chief and supported the attempts to weaken the KPK, Jokowi has yet to respond to the KPK crisis or prevented the police from engineering criminal cases against the agency'€™s leaders and investigators.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny Sompie said that the South Sulawesi Police had named Abraham a suspect for allegedly helping a woman identified as Feriyani Lim, who is a suspect in a document-forgery case, to falsify documents when applying for a passport.

Police claim that Abraham included Feriyani, who is not a family member, on his family card, when the woman needed residential documents to apply for a passport in 2007.

Ronny denied the move was motivated by a police vendetta against Abraham. '€œWe work professionally according to the law,'€ he said.

The decision to name Abraham a suspect came three weeks after fellow KPK commissioner Bambang was named a suspect in a perjury case.

Article 32 of Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK stipulates that the President must suspend KPK commissioners if they face criminal charges.

During a press conference held on Tuesday night Abraham said he respected the legal process launched by the police and that he would soon submit his resignation letter to the KPK'€™s collective leadership.

It is thought likely that the KPK leadership will reject Abraham'€™s resignation proposal as they did earlier with Bambang'€™s resignation.

Following their decision not to accept Bambang'€™s resignation, the KPK leadership left it to Jokowi to decide Bambang'€™s fate. But as of yet the President has not made a decision on the matter.

'€œI'€™ll let the public judge this case. I still don'€™t understand about my case as the family ID shows that I lived in a shop-house [on Jl. Boulevard in Makassar], while in fact I'€™ve lived on Jl. Mapala since 1999. I believe that the truth will be revealed even if it has to be sought in the dark,'€ Abraham said.

National Police detective division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso indicated that the police would move against 21 former police officers currently seconded to the KPK.

He said that the officers could be charged with illegal possession of firearms. '€œThe firearms were purchased legally, however, their ownership is not [legal]. Most of the KPK investigators'€™ permits expired in 2011, although some expired in 2012,'€ he said, adding that the firearms would be confiscated as evidence by the police as soon as possible.

Budi Waseso said the 21 KPK investigators could face maximum imprisonment of 12 years if they are found guilty of violating Law No. 12/1951 on firearms ownership.

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