Activists and researchers have been adamant that the concept of the council itself is fundamentally flawed, no matter who is selected to sit in it.
ot long after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he would select the members of the new Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) supervisory council, speculations mounted that former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and former KPK chairman Antasari Azhar would get the posts.
Activists and researchers have been adamant that the concept of the council itself is fundamentally flawed, no matter who is selected to sit in it.
“The mention of names like Ahok and Antasari is merely distracting from the core problems with creating a supervisory council in the first place,” Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Donal Fariz said on Thursday.
The supervisory council is a result of the controversial new KPK Law, which was passed in September under dubious circumstances. The law states that the five-member council, selected by the President in “consultation" with the House of Representatives, has the authority to grant or deny permission for KPK investigators to conduct searches, seizures and wiretapping.
Experts and activists have said that the creation of the council, along with other stipulations in the law, will severely hamper the anti-graft body’s independence and effectiveness.
On social media, Ahok and Antasari have gained significant traction.
On Saturday, a staunch Ahok supporter, Rudi Valinka, suggested in a tweet that Ahok be made a council member. The tweet had received nearly 18,000 retweets and 7,000 likes at the time of writing.
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