(Illustration: Kompas
Vice President Jusuf Kalla has defended a proposed revision of the law on Indonesia's anticorruption body.
There was nothing unusual about the amendment to Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), as the government and the House of Representatives had discussed it for a long time, Kalla insisted.
Responding to widespread public criticism of the proposed amendment, Kalla denied the government and House were engaged in a blame game with one another.
"Any law, not only the law on the KPK, can be revised, including the Constitution. We're not throwing responsibilities [to the House], because any amendment of a law needs both sides' agreement," Kalla said on Sunday at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport Jakarta, as quoted by Kompas.com.
The planned KPK law revision has stirred controversy in the country, with a number of public figures saying the move opened the doors for efforts to undermine the KPK's role in the future.
In their latest meeting, the government and the House's legislation body (Baleg) agreed to shift the initiative for the KPK law amendment from the government to the House.
The result would be brought to the House's steering committee (Bamus) for further discussion on Monday (Oct. 30) and to a plenary meeting on Tuesday (Dec. 1).
A Baleg member from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Al Muzzammil Yusuf, suggested inviting a KPK member to the first discussion of the revision, in a bid to allay fears that the House was aiming to weaken the KPK.
All participants in the meeting, including Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, agreed to the suggestion. (ags)
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