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Jakarta Post

Activists demand equal opportunity for candidates

The first cut: The selection team for Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders briefs the press about the process in Jakarta on Thursday

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Fri, July 12, 2019

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Activists demand equal opportunity for candidates

T

he first cut: The selection team for Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders briefs the press about the process in Jakarta on Thursday. From a pool of 376 applicants, the team has picked 192 candidates who meet the administrative requirements.(JP/Seto Wardhana)

The 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 KPK 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.

“We must reject the effort to weaken the KPK through the intensive involvement of police institutions in the selection process, if police generals apply for the role then they must first resign from their position,” Syamsuddin said.

Syamsuddin said a strong and independent KPK could threaten some parties including members of the legislature and police.

“An independent KPK that can arrest corruption suspects indiscriminately was not welcomed by some institutions,” he said.

He cited the attack on KPK investigator Novel Baswedan by unknown assailants on a motorbike, who threw acid on his face in April 2017 leaving him partially blind. Novel later openly expressed his suspicion that a police general played a role in the attack.

Meanwhile, commissioner of the Civil Service Commission, Waluyo, said the selection process must be based on merit and qualification according to 2014 Civil Servants Law.

“[The new] KPK leaders must combine their expertise in prosecuting, prevention, coordination and supervision. Thus [the selection team] should find the right candidates that are able to exercise their responsibility,” Waluyo told reporters.

Waluyo also asked the selection team to track the record of the candidates to create a more independent leadership of the KPK.

“The selection committee should assess the track record of candidates to find out whether a candidate has been influenced [by others] before, and thus could assess whether the candidate can exercise their duty independently,” Waluyo added.

The selection team closed off registration for new candidates on Thursday after receiving applications from 376 individuals from various backgrounds, most of whom were lawyers or academics. From the total number of candidates, 13 are police officers and five are prosecutors.

The figure is down by more than 50 percent from the previous selection in 2015, which had 661 individuals submitting application letters, but still above the 2011 figure when only 142 candidates applied. Earlier in 2007, 624 candidates sought KPK posts. (awa)

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