T

he House of Representatives has once again delayed its final decision on whether to return to the government the names of candidates for the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

According to members of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, the decision to postpone comes as a result of differences among political party factions.

Commission III chairman Aziz Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party said the House would make the decision next week, in order to '€œgive time for several factions to conduct a thorough analysis of the situation'€.

'€œIn tonight'€™s meeting, a number of factions and commission members proposed that we postpone the final decision [...] until next week,'€ Aziz said after the meeting at the House complex late on Wednesday.

He declined to give details about the meeting, but he gave assurances that lawmakers would convene on Monday. He also said that the failure to select a new group of KPK leaders by the deadline would not lead to the paralysis of the antigraft body.

'€œWhatever the decision on Monday, it will not impede the functions of the KPK, as the three acting commissioners will continue to fulfill their duties until new leaders are sworn in,'€ Aziz said.

Acting KPK chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki said in a meeting with Commission III that three of the five acting commissioners would be able to continue serving without a term limit. Current KPK data shows that as of September the antigraft body was handling 195 graft cases.

Commission III deputy chairman Desmond J. Mahesa from the Gerindra Party claimed that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) were responsible for the delay. He insisted that it was customary to postpone any final decisions if a Commission III plenary meeting failed to reach a consensus.

'€œThis is a commission on law; we have to stay on track,'€ he said.

Previously, United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani said his faction would support the issuing of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) that would extend the tenure of the current acting KPK leaders if Commission III decided to reject the candidates and return their names to the government.

Arsul said that returning the names to the government would inevitably result in the need to extend the KPK commissioners'€™ period of service beyond the Dec. 16 deadline.

He said that his party faction had yet to decide whether to proceed with the screenings or to return the names to the President, arguing that the PPP was unwilling to nominate any questionable candidates who would pose a potential threat to the KPK.

'€œIf the selection [process] needs to be repeated, the House would not dare reject the Perppu,'€ Arsul said.

PDI-P lawmaker Masinton Pasaribu proposed the issuance of the Perppu if the people on the current roster of candidates were deemed unqualified. Other party factions agreed to proceed with plans to conduct screenings for the candidates and determine what the next steps would be. Talks of returning the candidate names to the government emerged following recent House consultation meetings with two initiators of the 2002 KPK Law.

Padjadjaran University law professor Romli Atmasasmita and Trisakti University professor Andi Hamzah were both convinced that the now-defunct KPK leadership selection committee had violated a number of regulations.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said earlier in the day that the government expected the House to immediately decide whether to approve five or four names.

'€œThe government has no intention to meddle with the vetting process, but the government indeed hopes that the House approves the names on the list that have been reviewed by the selection team.'€

According to Pramono, the government has twice '€œcommunicated with the House'€ and has acknowledged that '€œthere are still differences in perspective between House factions'€, although he also said he believed the House would be able to settle such differences and immediately make a decision.
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