T

he House of Representative'€™s failure to select the new Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Leaders by a Dec. 21 deadline may lead to the paralysis of the antigraft body and postpone the investigation and prosecution of dozens of graft cases.

Current KPK data shows that as of September the antigraft body is in the midst of handling 195 graft cases at various levels, including 67 at the preliminary investigation stage, 31 at primary investigation stage and 57 in the prosecution phase and in court.

Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) case, which is said to have links to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s patron and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, is among those cases currently in a preliminary investigation phase as is the case involving the Bank Century scandal, which has implicated former vice president Boediono.

The KPK continues to step up its primary investigation into suspended North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho'€™s bribery case which, in turn, links to a number of high profile figures including Attorney General M. Prasetyo and NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh.

'€œIf [vacuum of power] happens, it could affect [those cases],'€ former KPK advisor Abdullah Hehamahua told The Jakarta Post on Sunday night, adding that investigators working on cases need to get permission from KPK leaders before making a decision on individuals implicated in a graft investigation.

In addition, the KPK is also working on several case review petitions for several cases, including the Bank Central Asia (BCA) tax scandal, that been forcefully stopped due to controversial pretrial decisions ordering the antigraft body to halt graft investigation.

Abdullah reminded the House that it would violate the KPK Law should it fail to meet the deadline, adding that the KPK Law mandated that the House select new commissioners within three months of the government having submitted the names of candidates.

'€œThere is no sanction if the House commits such a violation but members of the public could impose social sanction by not electing members of the parties, delaying the confirmation hearing in the upcoming simultaneous local elections in December,'€ Abdullah added.

The Jokowi'€™s administration submitted eight candidate KPK commissioners to the House in August, but Commission III has so far failed to conduct a screenings to select the five new KPK commissioners for the 2015-2019 period, despite the fact that the current KPK commissioners are due to wrap up their tenure on Dec. 16.

The House issued a number of reasons for the delay, including the legality screening of the selection process for the eight candidates by an independent team established by the government.

KPK deputy chairman Zulkarnaen said that the antigraft body hoped that the House could hold a confirmation hearing on the candidates to avoid vacuum of power at the antigraft body, as soon as possible. '€œWe wish the House would hurry up,'€ he added.

Erwin Natosmal Oemar, a researcher from the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR), said that the stalling tactics might be part of an effort to force Jokowi to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) that would allow him to overstep the existing regulations and nominate KPK commissioners.

'€œThe implication is that the President would be able to nominate whoever he chooses,'€ he said. This would inevitably affect the checks and balances mechanism between the government and the House.

House Commission III lawmaker Junimart Girsang of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Sunday that lawmakers had no intention of buying any time or stalling selection.

He attempted to reassure the public, claiming that the actual selection process for the KPK leaders would not take long, citing previous accounts of the commission in nominating commissioners for the Judicial Commission and justices for the Supreme Court.
____________________________________