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House's inquiry into KPK aims to press Jokowi
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Anticorruption activists rally in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta on Sept. 7. They called on the KPK to immediately detain House of Representatives Speaker and Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto, who has been named a suspect in the e-ID card case. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
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egardless of all the controversies, the House of Representatives’ inquiry into the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has continued to swim against the tide, with the inquiry team remaining steadfast in pursuing what is believed to be its ultimate agenda: weakening the antigraft body.
Only days after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo rebuffed an invitation to attend a proposed consultation meeting with the inquiry team, it was revealed that the committee had planned to exercise its right to express opinions, a further legislative step that could press the President to follow through with the inquiry’s recommendations.
The right to express opinions is also a required step to call for impeachment.
According to a draft of the inquiry’s final report, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, the House plans to exercise the right to press the government to, together with the House, initiate a revision to the 2002 KPK Law within a month of the House approving the recommendations.
Read also: EDITORIAL: KPK's lonely battle
According to the 157-page document, the law should be amended to scrap the KPK’s enforcement power, letting the antigraft body focus on the role of coordinating and supervising other law enforcement institutions in their efforts to eradicate corruption.
The inquiry team recommends that the power to investigate and prosecute corruption suspects be granted only to the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Thus, the report also included a recommendation to revise the Law on the Criminal Code Procedures (KUHAP) and Law No. 20/2001 on Corruption to ensure that investigation and prosecution powers belong only to the police and the AGO.
