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Govt aims to shield KPK from radicalism
Scrutinizing team: Yenti Ganarsih (fourth left), who heads a committee to select leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), walks with fellow committee members after meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday
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crutinizing team: Yenti Ganarsih (fourth left), who heads a committee to select leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), walks with fellow committee members after meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday.(Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
The committee tasked with selecting Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioners has defended its decision to involve the antiterrorism agency in the screening process, saying that it was a necessary step to protect the antigraft body amid growing radicalism in the country.
The move comes as the selection team sets about finding potential candidates with strong managerial skills, which observers have said could help to address repeated conflicts surrounding the KPK.
The registration for potential candidates competing for the seats opened on Monday and will remain open until July 4, and will be followed by a series of selection processes and assessments, including reviews of the track records of each candidate, which will also involve the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
The BNPT, which owns the database on radical groups and their links, would assist in tracking the candidates’ backgrounds to find out whether or not there were candidates who were exposed to radical teachings, committee member and political psychologist Hamdi Muluk said.
“The infiltration of radical ideologies, whether they are right-wing or left-wing, threatens our own ideology as the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” Hamdi said in a press conference after the team’s meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
“Our commitment to preventing the KPK from being exposed to radical ideologies is clear.”
Citing studies that revealed that radicalism had spread through university campuses and state-owned enterprises, Hamdi said the selection team had decided to take “extra caution”.
However, the selection committee denied that the BNPT’s involvement had anything to do with the number of devout Muslims that had become KPK investigators and officials. “Please don’t interpret this to engage in far-fetched speculation,” said Hamdi.
The committee’s plan recently raised concerns about whether the KPK had already been infiltrated by radical Muslims who had influenced the antigraft body’s work, allegations that have been refuted by KPK leaders and anticorruption activists.
Ever since its establishment in 2002, the KPK has been embroiled in scandals as its commissioners and investigators have moved to investigate high-profile and politically connected graft cases. It has often become involved in conflicts with the National Police amid the arrests of many high-ranking police officers for corruption.
The string of conflicts between the two law enforcement institutions, popularly dubbed Cicak lawan Buaya (Gecko versus Crocodile), has resulted in numerous arrests, and even attacks of prominent officials from both institutions.
In 2012, dozens of police officers besieged the KPK’s office after it arrested the former head of the police’s traffic directorate, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.
In 2017, Novel Baswedan, a top KPK investigator, who is also known as a devout Muslim, was the target of an acid attack by unknown assailants, which left him blind in one eye. The case remains unresolved.
Novel was investigating a mega corruption case related to the e-ID project in the Home Ministry, which later brought down former House of Representatives speaker and Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto.
In January, a package containing the components of a pipe bomb was left outside KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo’s house, while on the same morning Molotov cocktails were thrown at the home of deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif.
During an interview with The Jakarta Post on Monday, Laode described as “baseless” allegations that a radical faction existed within the KPK. “We never look at people based on their religious, ethnic and political affiliations. We only consider their ability to continue the fight against corruption,” Laode said.
Legal campaigner M. Isnur from the foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), an organization that is part of a coalition of anticorruption civil society groups, said that in the group’s interactions with the staff members and leaders of the KPK, it had never found any indication of radicalism.
Isnur acknowledged that some of the KPK’s top figures were deeply religious, both Muslims and Christians, but added that there was no evidence that it had influenced their performance. “Judging someone to be radical based on his attire is very dangerous,” Isnur said, “The [accusation] is political and serves as a kind of character assassination.”
Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Dadang Trisasongko said it was part of KPK employees’ basic human rights to choose what they wanted to wear. However, he said things might have worsened in the past four years due to the reluctance of KPK leaders to take disciplinary action against employees.
