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Corruption eradication yet to improve under Jokowi’s presidency
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Stand up for your people – Representatives of Student Executive Bodies (BEM) from 44 universities across Indonesia stage a peaceful rally to commemorate the second year of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s administration in front of the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 20.
(Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
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wo years after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla entered office, there has been no significant improvement in Indonesia’s war against corruption, a watchdog has said.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) legal researcher Aradila Caesar said Jokowi had shown a positive intention to support the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) works by, among others things, stopping the criminalization of the antigraft body’s investigators. The President also rejected the revision of Government Regulation (PP) No.99/2012 on remission, which aims to ease remission procedures for special crime perpetrators, including graft convicts.
The researcher said one of real challenges of Indonesia’s antigraft movement lied in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the National Police’s failing to effectively take their investigations into corruption cases to a prosecution stage. This problem resulted from a feud between the KPK and the police in 2015.
“AGO and the National Police reforms and the completion of big-fish corruption case investigations should be a priority for the Jokowi-Kalla administration. The evaluation of the national anticorruption movement should also be in line with the Nawacita [Jokowi's Nine Priority Agenda Items]," Aradila said.
In its corruption case law enforcement trend report for the first semester of 2016, the ICW recorded 210 corruption cases investigated by the KPK, National Police and AGO, with state-losses amounting up to Rp 890.5 billion (US$ 68.5 million) and 500 suspects. It shows a decrease compared to the first semester of last year, during which it recorded 229 total cases involving 595 suspects and state losses of up to Rp 3.9 trillion.
ICW monitoring during the second semester of 2015 revealed that 911 corruption cases were investigated from 2010 to 2015. However, only 151 cases or 17 percent of the total entered the prosecution stage while 755 cases or 82 percent remained in the investigation stage.
“Indonesia’s law enforcement of corruption cases has not yet shown significant improvements. The vast majority of graft cases being investigated are small-scale corruption, while big-fish corruptors remain untouched by the police and AGO," ICW investigation division staff Wana Alamsyah said. (ebf)
