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Activists demand equal opportunity for KPK leader candidates
Anticorruption activists say the selection committee tends to favor police and prosecutor candidates
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairperson Basaria Panjaitan (second right) meets KPK selection committee (Pansel) head Yenti Garnasih (third right), and other committee members on Wednesday at the antigraft body’s headquarters in Jakarta. The selection committee will soon begin recruitment of new KPK leaders. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he selection team of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) should provide equal opportunities for KPK leadership candidates to ensure the commitment to anticorruption, activists have said.
"The selection team is always of the opinion that the KPK leadership should include police officers and prosecutors, and that could cause a conflict of interest," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) vice coordinator Agus Sunaryanto said during a discussion at the ICW's office in South Jakarta on Friday.
Agus said the selection committee should treat each candidate equally because the team, tasked with selecting the next KPK leader, tends to favor candidates from two institutions, namely the National Police and Attorney General's Office.
He said the selection team used Article 43 of the 1999 Corruption Law as the legal basis to consider that the leadership role must include law enforcement officials and civil society.
“KPK leadership selection procedures are stipulated in the 2002 Corruption Law that does not specify which organizations the candidates belong to [before they apply for the role], so the privilege of considering candidates based on the institution is no longer relevant,” Agus said.
On Wednesday, selection team head Yenti Garnasih said the leadership role had to include law enforcement officials, representatives of the government and civil society.
Speaking at the same event, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political expert Syamsuddin Haris said there could be a scenario to weaken the KPK based on the members of the selection team and efforts from the police to place their officers in KPK leadership positions.
