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strong>Oct. 8, p2

Lawmakers have made a fresh attempt at weakening the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in its plan to amend Law No. 30/2002 regarding the antigraft body. The House'€™s legislative body kicked off the discussion on the amendment on Tuesday following the failure of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the first initiator of the amendment, to submit a draft bill after President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo rejected the plan. In Tuesday'€™s meeting, the House decided to adopt the draft first proposed by the government and proceeded with discussion of its details.

Your comments:

It sure is a lot of artistic imagination that some perverted minds possess. People, hear your lawfully selected representatives ask for pay raises, repress your voting rights and see the rupiah gasp near 15,000 per dollar. I doubt these folks realize the effects.

Dinero

Ah, the KPK. A good idea that had and has no chance of succeeding in a country run on and by the principle that corruption is the only way to get things done.

Charlesjarret  

A move on the KPK to reduce powers and eventually shut them down. This move is to benefit the police who you may have noticed, since they moved on the KPK for attacking their leadership, have entered the corruption investigation game.

Of course, so far they have only listed suspects and witnesses and done some interviews. No results, of course. At least not for the public.

With the police taking over the legislature, they can stop looking over their shoulders and checking if the KPK is watching them.

All businesses will get back to normal with government elite raking in the dough. The police raking in more dough will be looking the other way. This course is a course for corruption being more rampant than it has ever been. From the top to the bottom of government. From the top to the bottom of business. There will be hands out and fat envelopes filling them.

The President needs to toss this as far away as possible but something tells me he won'€™t. Something about the big birds of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Simaging

What are you doing, Mr. President? You can run but you can'€™t hide forever... kill this draft like former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono killed the abolition of local direct elections and please, show your strong leadership.

Siang Malam

Absolutely disgusting. Really Empire Strikes Back stuff here. An Indonesian civil servant can steal US$2 million and the Corruption Court isn'€™t even allowed to investigate and try him? What an appalling pro-corruption and anti-accountability law.

Every corrupt person will just make sure they steal in lots of less than $3 million each time so they can avoid prosecution. A truly ridiculous and pathetic piece of legislation from a pathetic government that the public rightly distrusts.

Lasem Benny

Of course these measures would undermine the KPK'€™s activities. That is proof that we cannot uphold the law. We are not talented in enforcing the law. When some of us are committed to upholding the law, others strive to gradually weaken corruption eradication bodies like the KPK. When some of us are investigating corruption or bribery cases, others say '€œBe careful in investigating cases, you could harm the economy'€.

When the KPK wiretaps or records corrupters'€™ conversations, it should have court consent, meaning that the KPK cannot do its job effectively. No sooner than it gets court consent, the corrupt conversation is over. The KPK is not allowed to recruit its investigators freely, meaning that it cannot select the right persons for the job.

The government and the House of Representative have the same say in this. Indeed, this country is built on conspiracy. Let'€™s wait and see. The police are doing a little bit better now, but just in arresting child rapists. Child rape is also rampant in this country right now.

Syarwan         

It'€™s obvious that is what the government wants '€” to shut the KPK down. Every other agency is corrupt, especially those that the KPK would have to recruit investigators from. So much for Jokowi'€™s stance on fighting corruption.

Willo

Pretty sure this has nothing to do with the President or the executives for that matter. The House after all has the right to initiate this by itself. After the draft is complete, the President may reject it if he wants to, so you would have to wait a bit longer.

Actually he can, and please, even though I don'€™t agree with what the House proposed for the revision, I do still believe there is room for good revisions, even if it'€™s about limiting power (and again I will say this, I don'€™t agree with what the House proposed).

Look, I'€™m not an expert on this, but the KPK'€™s special rights and privileges are quite powerful and probably need supervision. I mean, it'€™s only because the last leaders of the KPK were quite good that the KPK achieved a good track record and everything.

But please, consider this scenario: What happens if the people who fill positions as leaders of the KPK are politicians or have political motives and agendas or are not people with integrity? Trust me, it could be a disaster.

For example, the KPK has the right to wiretap, however in the hands of the '€˜wrong person'€™, this could be dangerous. He or she could wiretap anyone, like a political rival, business rival, use it as blackmail or anything. Without any limits, abuses of power like this are actually possible. And of course, the positions of leaders of the KPK can be easily filled with the wrong people.

After all, the fit and proper test is done by the House itself. Surely when given the chance they can fill positions with such people. Although there is such thing as a code of conduct, when all of them are people with integrity it can mean little (this is Indonesia after all).

So, let'€™s imagine this scenario: Are you sure you would be content if for some reason all of the leaders of the KPK are people from the PDI-P, very loyal to Megawati and with certain political agendas but smart enough to hide it? Would you want to let these people have such powers? It'€™s just my personal opinion anyway.

PM Kansek

This is the problem with Indonesia '€” abuses of power are always '€œlikely'€ so you have this crazy legislation '€” a President needing to sign off on any investigation of a politician, limits being placed, by politicians, on the capacity of the independent body created to investigate possible corruption. It is crazy and goes round and round in circles.

You need to start at the top and legally define the powers of your President.

This needs to be done through your Constitutional Court, and done without prejudice or political interference and if you don'€™t trust your Constitutional Court you might as well pack up and go home. It'€™s game over.

LBR

Slowly but surely, the facade is wearing off.

I'€™m not holding my breath that Indonesians will take to the streets demanding their democracy back; it was never here in the first place.

We will never learn from our past, because it does not exist.

Reprises