T

he team tasked to select the new leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) emphasized on Sunday that the recent move by the National Police to name a KPK commissioner candidate a graft suspect had not influenced its final recommendation of eight names to be submitted to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Sept. 2.

In what came as an 11th hour surprise, the police body made the announcement on Friday, the day when team members met to select eight out of the 19 candidates who had undergone interviews and medical tests. The team, however, said that it had already made the shortlist hours before the police notification and that the suspect, whose name has yet to be disclosed to the public, did not make it onto the final list.

'€œAfter the announcement, we phoned the National Police'€™s Criminal Investigation Corps [Bareskrim] to find out who the person was and it turned out the person was not one of the eight candidates we had already picked,'€ the selection committee'€™s spokesperson, Betty Alisjabana, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Betty denied suggestions that the shortlist was made after the announcement to satisfy demands from the National Police. Friday'€™s turn of events echoed the experience of then candidate for chief of police Gen. Budi Gunawan when the KPK named him a bribery suspect one day before he was due to undergo a confirmation hearing for the position of National Police chief.

Budi, who now serves as deputy chief of the National Police, failed to get the top job due to the KPK'€™s bold move. After Budi voided his candidacy, the police body later appointed Budi'€™s confidant Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso to lead Bareskrim.

Both the National Police and the selection team have kept the suspect'€™s name secret as of Sunday night, but the police vowed to reveal the identity of the candidate and detail the graft case implicating the candidate on Monday.

Betty said that the team would not announce the names of the eight candidates before meeting with Jokowi on Sept. 2.

'€œAfter the President receives the shortlist on Sept. 2, then he has two weeks to make a decision whether to approve the list before sending the eight candidates to the House of Representatives for screening,'€ Betty added.

The eight will join two candidates already picked by a selection team set up under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: former KPK commissioner Busyro Muqoddas and Cabinet Secretariat international relations division head Robby Arya Brata.

The House will select five of the 10 candidates for the President to approve before inaugurating them in December, the month when the current KPK commissioners wrap up their official tenure.

The National Police'€™s special and economic crimes director Brig. Gen. Victor Edison Simanjuntak on Sunday said that the police'€™s surprising move was pure law enforcement without any politicking behind it.

'€œThere is no such [political] interest [behind the decision]. This is purely an investigation that is based on fact. We have evidence [to support our move].'€ Victor added that the candidate being named a graft suspect was a former high-profile state official.

Another member of the committee, Yenti Garnasih, confirmed that the candidate to be named a graft suspect by the police was a high-profile figure, but she refused to give any names. '€œLet'€™s wait the official announcement on Monday because we are worried that there will be another suspect [later on].'€