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.

Jakarta Post

KPK blasts team'€™s candidate assignments

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has criticized the decision made by the government-sanctioned selection committee to unilaterally divide up its eight final leadership candidates for the antigraft body and suggest which specific bureaucratic divisions they are best suited to lead

Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, September 3, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

KPK blasts team'€™s candidate assignments

T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has criticized the decision made by the government-sanctioned selection committee to unilaterally divide up its eight final leadership candidates for the antigraft body and suggest which specific bureaucratic divisions they are best suited to lead.

The KPK said that it should be the prerogative of elected leaders of the KPK to decide where they would best serve the commission.

Unlike in previous selection processes, the selection committee divided the eight final candidates among four divisions: prevention, prosecution, management and supervision and coordination and monitoring.

Assigned to possibly head up prevention was Saut Situmorang, an expert under the head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), a public attorney and lecturer at Atmajaya University Surya Tjandra, to head up prosecution was Jakarta Corruption Court judge Alexander Marwata and Brig. Gen. Basaria Panjaitan, a lecturer at the police force'€™s High Staff and Command School (Sespimti), to lead the management division was former State Procurement Agency head (LKPP) Agus Rahardjo and KPK official Sujanarko and to lead supervision, coordinating and monitoring was acting KPK commissioner Johan Budi and Laode Muhamad Syarif, a lecturer at the School of Law, Hasanudin University.

KPK commissioner Indriyanto Seno Adji said that the decision had disrupted a long-standing tradition at the KPK under which all selected leaders would decide among themselves what their roles would be in the agency.

'€œAs far as I know, the leadership division will be determined after selected KPK leaders are confirmed to have passed the fit and proper test at the House,'€ Indriyanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The eight final candidates will now join two other candidates picked by a selection team set up by the previous president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: former KPK commissioner Busyro Muqoddas and Cabinet Secretariat international relations division head Robby Arya Brata. Jokowi has two weeks before sending the names to the House for a confirmation hearing.

The House Commission III overseeing legal affairs is mandated to pick five of 10 candidates to replace current KPK leaders: chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki and his deputies Indriyanto Seno Adji, Johan Budi, Adnan Pandu Praja and Zulkarnain, who will retire in December this year.

The new KPK leaders will lead the antigraft body from 2015 to 2019.

The KPK selection team has already come under fire for selecting three problematic candidates who had been flagged by anticorruption activists.

Those three candidates are Basaria of the National Police, Saut of BIN and Jakarta Corruption Court judge Alexander. The three earned notoriety for statements they made during their interview tests last week.

Basaria said that the KPK should delegate its prosecution and indictment authorities to the National Police and the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO), while Saut had problems with his wealth and taxes. As for Alexander, he was known for his dissenting opinions on guilty verdicts on graft cases issued by panels of judges at the court.

Meanwhile, the team defended its tentative assignment of the eight candidates into specific roles, saying the recommendations were made based on leadership challenges that the KPK would face in the future.

'€œThe House has the right to put aside our assignments, but we did it solely based on the consideration of the KPK'€™s challenges in the future,'€ said the head of the selection team, Destry Damayanti.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.