The KPK is once again embroiled in controversy after the Jakarta Police investigated the alleged extortion by KPK leadership, which was overseeing a probe into alleged corruption at the Agriculture Ministry during the tenure of then minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo of the NasDem Party.

The police last week launched a full investigation after questioning a number of witnesses, including Syahrul himself, but the police refused to reveal the identity of the KPK commissioner who had been implicated in the alleged blackmailing of Syahrul.

One of the materials under police investigation to establish context for the investigation is an undated photograph circulating among journalists appearing to show Firli and Syahrul in a private meeting on a badminton court.

Kurnia Ramadhana of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said on Monday that the alleged extortion showed that Firli was “incompetent to lead the antigraft body”, demanding his resignation.

He cited several controversies that have surrounded the KPK since Firli became chairman in 2019, ranging from a widely criticized civic knowledge test that was used to justify firing dozens of KPK workers in 2021, to recent allegations of embezzlement, bribe-taking and sexual harassment at the institution.

Zaenur Rohman from the Gadjah Mada University Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat UGM) said Firli failed to be a role model for the employees and the latest extortion allegation could undermine the integrity of the KPK.