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House declaws KPK in dubious process
Mission accomplished: Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly (left) hands over the government’s final version of a bill to revise the 2002 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law to House of Representatives leaders during a plenary meeting at the House compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday
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ission accomplished: Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly (left) hands over the government’s final version of a bill to revise the 2002 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law to House of Representatives leaders during a plenary meeting at the House compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday. The House passed the bill despite objections from several parties, who are concerned that the revision would weaken the antigraft body.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
In a move that may lead to the collapse of the decades-old fight against corruption in the country, the House of Representatives passed a law amendment that neuters the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a plenary session on Tuesday afternoon with the blessing of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
The newly deliberated bill to amend the 2002 law on the KPK mandates the formation of a supervisory council to oversee the KPK, which antigraft activists warned would prevent it from investigating cases that involve key government officials, businessmen and politicians.
The law also requires all KPK employees to be civil servants, effectively turning it into a government body, and requires the KPK obtain wiretapping warrants from the council, which are expected to diminish the agency's independence and effectiveness in eradicating corruption.
The bill's passage, which sped through in less than two weeks, comes hot on the heels of the selection of South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri as the 2019 to 2023 KPK chairman by the House, despite accusations that Firli conducted "gross ethical violations" during his brief tenure as KPK law enforcement chief in 2018.
In a dire outlook of the future of a neutered KPK, experts said the last remaining bulwark to prevent the implementation of the law was through petitioning against it in court.
Andalas University constitutional law expert Feri Amsari, who is part of a civil society alliance that rejected the law, said the law could be challenged both at the State Administrative Court (PTUN) and the Constitutional Court.
"At the PTUN we can raise the issue that the President named the law and human rights minister and administrative and bureaucratic reform minister to represent him during deliberations, without involving the current KPK commissioners, even though the Constitutional Court ruled that the KPK is part of the executive branch," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
At the Constitutional Court, Feri said the petitioners could challenge both on procedural and material grounds.
"Procedurally, we can bring up that the amendment was not included as a priority bill for the 2019 Prolegnas [National Legislation Program] as stipulated in the House's rules," he said. "If that is rejected by the court, we will challenge the substance of the law."
Feri said the alliance was considering to include several of the law's articles in the petition, including articles that erase the special nature of corruption and articles regarding the formation of the supervisory council.
"We are discussing how best to approach this," he said, adding that the process could start before the end of the week.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Donal Fariz said his organization was also preparing to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court.
"We need to challenge it because it is a result of political banality," he told the Post.
"The government has closed its eyes to the need for a strong KPK and closed its ears to the complaints of citizens and public figures about the rushed and secretive nature of the law's passing."
In an uncharacteristically speedy fashion, the bill, first proposed by the House's Legislation Body's (Baleg), was agreed upon by all parties in four minutes without interruption during a plenary session on Sept. 4.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo sent a presidential letter that kickstarted deliberation on the evening of Sept. 11 and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly came to the House to participate in a previously unannounced meeting regarding the bill on the evening of Sept. 12.
In total, the bill only needed six days and five meetings to be passed after Jokowi sent the letter. Of the five meetings, only two were open to the public. The government and lawmakers wrapped up the discussion of the bill on Monday night, in another closed-door meeting. The press was only allowed to enter the room one hour before it ended.
Tuesday's plenary session was chaired by House deputy speaker and longtime KPK critic Fahri Hamzah, who started the session after announcing that 290 lawmakers had signed the attendance list.
According to the Post's observation, only about 100 lawmakers were present in the plenary hall during the session, far fewer than the 281 necessary to form a quorum.
Nevertheless, the House members present voiced their approval for passing the bill into law after being asked by Fahri.
Yasonna, who was also present at the plenary session, said the law was intended to push for corruption prevention and eradication while not neglecting human rights and expressed the President's approval of the bill.
Both Yasonna and lawmakers denied that the law's deliberation was rushed and claimed that it was necessary to strengthen the KPK.
"We have been working on the draft since 2012 [...] we’ve even included the President's input to improve the bill,” the law and human rights minister said after the plenary.
He further claimed that there was no flaw in the lawmaking process. “It has been said we have no academic paper for the bill. That is incorrect. Do you think we are all fools?"
Baleg chairman and Gerindra Party politician Supratman Andi Agtas agreed.
"We’re not rushing it because we began the discussion a long time ago in the House's legislation body," he said. "[The controversy] is only a matter of different perspectives.”
Separately, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said the law amendment was the result of 17 years of criticisms of the KPK from all directions, including the public.
He added that President Jokowi remained committed to eradicating corruption, citing the suggestions from the government that were incorporated into the text of the law.
In accordance with the government's objections, the final law removed the requirements that the commission consult the Attorney General's Office for sentencing, the provision that KPK investigators should only come from the ranks of the police or prosecutors and retains the KPK's authority to manage wealth reports.
"So, don't let there be any sarcastic comments. 'Pak Jokowi has changed, he doesn't want to fight graft' and so on," Moeldoko told reporters on Tuesday. "That's not true."
