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House declaws KPK in dubious process
In a dire outlook of the future of a neutered KPK, the last remaining bulwark to prevent the implementation of the law is through petitioning against it in court.
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Rest in peace: Employees at Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) lay flower and wreaths on top of a casket in front of the KPK's headquarters in Kuningan, Central Jakarta, on Sept. 13, after the House of Representatives elected Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri from the National Police as KPK new chairman and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo approves controversial articles on KPK law amendment. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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n 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.
