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.
Yearender: Hope for KPK’s new leaders to remain independent
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto delivers a statement on Dec. 1, 2024, during a press briefing on the 2024 simultaneous regional elections at the party's headquarters in Jakarta. (Antara/Fauzan)
N
ew leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are facing mounting pressure to ensure its independence after it named a high-ranking politician from the only de facto opposition party in President Prabowo’s government a graft suspect, a move widely seen as politically motivated.
Three-star police general Comr. Gen. Setyo Budiyanto officially took office as the KPK new chair on Dec.20, some four days after he and his four deputies –Johanis Tanak, Fitroh Rohcahyanto, Ibnu Basuki Widodo and Agus Joko Pramono– took part in a swearing of oath ceremony at the Presidential Palace.
Shortly after assuming office, the new leaders made a splash by naming Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto a suspect in a graft case related to fugitive Harun Masiku, a former member of the nationalist party who allegedly bribed a General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner to secure a seat in the House of Representatives.
The case was left in abeyance for four years until the PDI-P parted ways with former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as he tacitly endorsed Prabowo of the rival Gerindra Party in February’s presidential election.
The PDI-P has criticized the anti-graft body’s moves, accusing it of politically charged operations aimed at intervening in the party’s inner workings particularly in the lead-up to its national congress next year. The shortlist of candidates for the KPK’s top jobs came from Jokowi days before he left office in October.
Read also: New KPK leaders prompt pessimism over fight against graft
Political analyst Adi Prayitno said that while it is difficult to deny political speculation following Hasto’s naming as a suspect, the KPK should prove its independence by pursuing other major corruption cases.
