P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo held a meeting on Friday with the five leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at the State Palace, during which the President urged the antigraft body to return to the peak level of performance it displayed before its standoff with the National Police over the nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan.

The meeting was the first after Jokowi installed three new interim KPK leaders, Taufiqurrahman Ruki, Indriyanto Seno Adji and Johan Budi.

Johan said that in the meeting Jokowi also asked them to brief him about the internal situation at the embattled commission.

'€œWe [the KPK leaders] hope the problems that have emerged will soon be settled. And the President also conveyed a similar message that the KPK and other law enforcement institutions should focus on getting back to business and expedite their programs in combating corruption,'€ he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Jokowi summoned Ruki, along with acting National Police chief Badrodin Haiti and Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo for a closed-door meeting at the State Palace.

In the meeting, Jokowi reiterated his call for better synergy between the three institutions following the rivalry between the KPK and the police, telling them to put aside their national rivalries.

In Friday'€™s meeting, Jokowi also reminded the antigraft body to carry out its programs comprehensively, both those related to prevention and to law enforcement.

'€œSo, it is not true that the KPK only prioritizes preventative measures. Prevention and prosecution are currently conducted simultaneously and will continue to be done so in the future,'€ Johan said.

The statement was apparently made to counter speculation that the KPK, under Ruki'€™s temporary leadership, might only focus on preventative measures and pursue corruption cases less aggressively in the wake of the KPK-police rivalry.

On Wednesday, the President also told the three law enforcement institutions '€œto truly be serious in handling corruption cases'€ and later highlighted the importance of prioritizing prevention efforts.

Amid efforts by a number of graft suspects to challenge the KPK in order to stop its investigations into them, the antigraft body also maintained it would continue pursuing any corruption cases, arguing that '€œpretrial motions filed by graft suspects do not immediately force the investigations to stop'€.

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Sutan Bhatoegana and former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali have filed requests for pretrial hearings at the South Jakarta District Court following its decision to accept Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan'€™s pretrial petition last week, which consequently ordered the antigraft body to stop its investigation into the three-star police general despite the fact that the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) grants no authority to a judge to void a suspect'€™s legal status.

'€œA pretrial decision will determine whether or not an investigation must stop or continue. Therefore, before a pretrial decision is issued, the KPK will not stop its investigation,'€ Johan said.

To follow up on Jokowi'€™s order, the KPK planned to hold meetings with officials from the Attorney General'€™s Office and the police this weekend.

Separately, former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD said that the country'€™s antigraft campaign had suffered a serious setback.

'€œWe experienced a total setback in the fight against corruption,'€ he said.