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coalition of civil society groups warned that some of the candidates for the next cohort of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners were not up to the job.

Erwin Natosmal Oemar of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR) said that antigraft watchdogs that monitored the selection found that some of the 19 candidates being interviewed by the government-sanctioned selection team failed to give credible answers to questions posed during sessions that took place from Monday to Wednesday.

'€œWe gauged how much these candidates understand the issue of corruption and methods of corruption eradication. What is interesting is that many of them did not understand the Corruption Law or the role of the KPK,'€ Erwin said in a press briefing held to publish the results of the coalition'€™s monitoring of the selection process.

Although the coalition declined to disclose the names of the candidates they found unsuitable for the job, Erwin said recommendations from the coalition would be sent to the selection committee on Friday.

Some of the candidates also failed to promote transparency, the coalition found.

'€œThere was a candidate who hadn'€™t submitted his wealth report since 2007 and another who forgot how many houses he owned,'€ he said.

Local media reports said that Erwin could be referring to former Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende and retired Army general Hendardji Soepandji.

Meanwhile, M. Isnur of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) expressed concern over a threat allegedly made by the National Police'€™s detective division chief, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso.

On Tuesday, Budi said that the police could not be held responsible for problematic candidates and that they could launch a probe against future KPK commissioners.

'€œWe have already submitted our report, which showed whether the candidates were problematic [according to the Criminal Code]. We will not hesitate to investigate past cases of any future KPK leader,'€ he said.

Isnur said that Budi'€™s statement was a veiled threat against the KPK.

'€œWhy doesn'€™t the police force just press charges against them now?'€ he asked.

Separately, Destry Damayanti, chairperson of the selection committee, said on Thursday that no one candidate would receive a perfect score in the five aspects they were tested for: integrity, competence, leadership skills, independency and relevant work experience.

Destry said, however, that candidates were not expected to have mastered the technical issues of the anti-corruption laws, as the committee hoped to select a team of KPK leaders who had different backgrounds, but complemented each other.

'€œNot all of them will be legal experts, but we do expect those who deeply understand relevant laws,'€ Destry said at the sidelines of a meeting with the House of Representatives.

She said that the KPK would need a mix of leaders who were adept at internal and external relations and added that it would be ideal to have leaders selected from different backgrounds.

'€œWe want the KPK to be able to work optimally, but corruption eradication without a sound strategy is unhealthy and could result in friction among relevant institutions,'€ she said.

As for the dubious wealth reports, Destry said it was a matter of time before candidates finally submitted those.

The committee aims to have the last eight names submitted to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo by Aug. 31, pending his schedule.

Afterwards, the President has two weeks to approve and forward the names to the House for fit-and-proper tests.

'€œWe need to have new KPK leaders by December,'€ she said.