Amid a series of efforts to undermine the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the newly installed leaders of the antigraft body are not making any big promises for their future programs.

New KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo said that his team would first consolidate their vision and mission before setting any priority programs.

The former manager of the National Procurement Agency (LKPP) further said that he would prefer to focus on coordination with other law enforcement institutions, such as the National Police and the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO), to carry out monitoring and supervision.

'€œThe KPK has very limited human resources, so we need to coordinate with other institutions as well,'€ Agus said on Monday after the inauguration ceremony at the State Palace.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo installed five new KPK leaders approved by the House of Representatives last week.

Agus and his four deputies '€” Alexander Marwata, Basaria Panjaitan, Laode Muhammad Syarif and Saut Situmorang '€” who come from various backgrounds, will lead the antigraft body for the next four years.

Anticorruption activists have criticized the House'€™s final picks for KPK leaders, referring to the chosen five as the result of compromises made by lawmakers to secure their interests. The activists doubt that the new leaders can maintain the KPK'€™s more than a decade-long combat against corruption.

Saut, a former expert at the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), said that the KPK needed to start from zero and not focus on complicated cases.

'€œThe KPK has a number of complicated cases. In the [Bank] Century case, for example, it will be difficult for us to collect evidence. It is also a waste of time and money,'€ Saut said after a press conference on Monday afternoon at KPK headquarters.

Several cases at the KPK have yet to be completed, including the Bank Century case centering on a controversial bailout decision made during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s presidency.

The case implicates former high-profile figures of Bank Indonesia (BI), including former vice president Boediono, who was the central bank'€™s governor when the case emerged in 2008. Former BI deputy governor Budi Mulya was sentenced to 17 years in prison after being found guilty in the case last year.

The new commissioners have also yet to show commitment to guarding the revision of Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK, currently under discussion at the House.

The government has supported a limited amendment to the law, which centers on the establishment of a new supervisory body for the KPK, investigation warrant (SP3) termination, wiretapping and hiring investigators.

'€œIt'€™s up to the lawmakers. The most important thing is that the draft [amendment] has a clear academic paper and credible theories,'€ Saut said.

Agus said that in regard to the draft, the KPK could only provide recommendations if needed. '€œIt is because the main actors handling the law are the House and the President,'€ he said.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the Jokowi administration was pinning its hopes on the new KPK leaders to answer the public'€™s concerns, adding that the five would receive the government'€™s full support in rooting out corruption.

'€œThe President and the government, of course, hope the new KPK [leaders] are able to meet the challenges voiced by the public. Since the start of the KPK [the public] has raised doubts over the capability of [past] its leaders at the beginning of their tenures. But we, the government, give our full support to ensure [the KPK is able to conduct its tasks]; the President even made sure that the ceremony was held immediately so that there was no power vacuum at the KPK.'€

Pramono said the President also wanted the new KPK leaders to immediately build better coordination internally at the KPK and to adapt immediately to the KPK'€™s existing mechanisms. (foy)

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