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iven the number of public officials and politicians being implicated in graft cases, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has called for a major overhaul in government institutions and political parties

The KPK proposed reforms in the internal control of government bodies and within regional administrations because the current mechanisms are insufficient to root out rampant corruption.

KPK chief Agus Rahardjo said on Thursday that the current internal control system, in which every ministry has its own inspectorate general and every regional administration has an inspectorate, did not provide ample supervision, as the responsible officials still reported to their superiors in their respective offices.

In the KPK’s proposal, which Agus said would be handed over to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the near future, inspectorates general in ministries should directly report to the President, inspectorates in provinces would report their audits to the Home Ministry and inspectorates in regencies should report to their governors.

The proposed system, Agus claimed, was based on the practice implemented in the US and primarily aimed at ensuring checks-and-balances worked effectively, thus strengthening the inspectorates in their role of detecting malfeasance in public offices.

“Inspectorates are co-opted by the current system in which they are under ministries and regional administrations,” Agus told reporters after a meeting with governors across the country at the Home Ministry’s building in Central Jakarta.

Agus claimed that the proposed system would also lead to inspectorates general and inspectorates becoming more active in reporting alleged corrupt practices. “Until now, there has been no report of alleged corruption coming from internal supervisors,” Agus said.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said he welcomed the proposal, saying that the ineffectiveness of internal control could be seen by the rampant corrupt practices involving public officials.“In fact, corruption is still flourishing in regions, especially in relation to budget deliberation,” Tjahjo said.

The antigraft body is also intensifying its efforts to uproot corruption in political parties.

Together with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the KPK launched on Thursday a code of ethics and guidelines for political parties in their recruitment process in the hope of creating better qualified leaders.

KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said the initiative was based on the commission’s concerns about rampant corruption implicating political party members. Of around 600 corruption convicts the anti-graft body has prosecuted, nearly 200 of them have been members of political parties.

“The job is actually the responsibility of each political party. However, it’s in the interest of the KPK to prevent corruption,” he said during the launch of the guidelines in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

LIPI senior political analyst Syamsudin Haris said the set of guidelines was drawn up to improve the quality of parties because they were pivotal in producing future leaders in a democratic country.

Hence, political parties needed a standardized recruitment process, which is transparent and accountable, he added. “The level of trust among the public in political parties is currently at a low ebb. If the political parties and politicians are not good the country might see an unpleasant future,” he said.

Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, who attended the event representing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, said the guidelines were an important step in tackling the growing public perception that politics was “dirty.”

“Because it appears that this dirty image is a common perception in the eyes of the public, politicians seem to think that doing anything to earn votes during elections is acceptable,” he said. (fac)