TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jokowi to shield KPK from dissolution
Change Size
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo (center), Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) head Moermahadi Soerja Djanegara (left) and KPK deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif get ready to give a press statement in Jakarta on May 27. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is ready to step in and counter the ongoing attempts to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), presidential spokesperson Johan Budi has said.
Johan promised that the President was committed to supporting the anti-graft body and would not hesitate to interfere with the House of Representatives’ ongoing probe into the KPK should the investigation lead to a conclusion that might harm the future of the institution.
“We don’t yet know where the [House’s] investigation [into the KPK] is heading. But the President will definitely oppose to the dissolution of the KPK, something that several lawmakers earlier indicated might be a possible outcome [of the probe],” he said on Monday.
Johan said Jokowi, however, could not intrude into the ongoing probe held by a House special investigative committee because the House was legally authorized to carry out such tasks.
The former KPK spokesman further claimed that Jokowi would not step into the process unless the House decided to dissolve the KPK.
Despite countless criticisms against its behavior, the House inquiry team is searching for irregularities and the possible abuse of authority by the KPK.
Last week, the team consulted with graft convicts imprisoned at the Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, to gather information about alleged rights violations by the KPK. (ebf)
