Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Bibit Samad Rianto urged Busyro, whose term ends in 2011 along with the other KPK deputy chairmen, to fine-tune the commission’s system to speed up corruption eradication.

While lauding Busyro’s experience as Judicial Commission chairman, Bibit said he felt Busyro’s appointment was a political decision, which could undermine the KPK’s attempt to take on politically charged cases.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives’ legal affairs commission elected Busyro, who is reportedly close to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, as KPK chairman, edging out the KPK’s other deputy chairmen.

Prior to the vote, Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie met at a hotel in Jakarta.

Anas’ colleague Ruhut Sitompul said that the two discussed the election, statements that Anas and Aburizal, however, denied.

Busyro’s win came amid mounting calls for the KPK to take over the case of Gayus Tambunan from the police. Gayus implicated Bakrie-linked firms in the high-profile tax and case brokering scandal that has come to symbolize the institutionalized corruption in the country.

Aburizal has repeatedly denied Gayus’ accusations.

But the Gayus affair is not the only politically charged graft case that will test the performance and credibility of Busyro’s KPK.

The KPK still has several key cases that it has not cracked, including the high-profile bribery case centering on the election of Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom, which has implicated dozens of political elites from Golkar, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the United Development Party (PPP).

The KPK has failed to summon a key witness in the case, Nunun Nurbaeti, the alleged middlewoman.
Nunun is the wife of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician and former National Police deputy chief Adang Daradjatun. Her absence has stalled the probe, hindering the KPK from identifying the bribers.

The KPK is also tasked with investigating the Bank Century scandal, which triggered major political wrangling, divided the ruling coalition and strained relations between the Democratic Party and Golkar.

KPK deputy chairman M. Jasin told legislators overseeing the Century probe that it had not found indications of graft in the Century bailout.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII) secretary-general Teten Masduki said the KPK could solve big cases only if they reformed the current system.

“The KPK under Busyro should replace investigation teams from the police and prosecutor’s office with independent ones,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Busyro should also motivate KPK officials, he added. “Another challenge for Busyro is to make the KPK lead state institutions — especially the police and prosecutors — in preventing corruption,” he said.

The selection of Busyro over rival Bambang Widjojanto was a political decision, he said, but added that Busyro was not easily dictated to.

“This could backfire for those who want to maintain the status quo.”

New Attorney General: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (second left) and Vice President Boediono (left) talk to newly appointed Attorney General Basrief Arief (second right, wearing cap) and newly elected Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas (center, facing camera) in Jakarta on Friday. Yudhoyono officially installed Basrief as the new attorney general at the State Palace on Friday. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

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