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KPK supervisory council readying for work
The Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) supervisory council is to soon commence overseeing the country’s leading antigraft agency as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed a regulation mandating the formation of the council’s executive body
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span>The Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) supervisory council is to soon commence overseeing the country’s leading antigraft agency as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed a regulation mandating the formation of the council’s executive body.
Antigraft activists are pessimistic that either the regulation or the executive body would lead the KPK to a better future as the regulation itself is a derivative of the controversial revision of the KPK Law.
Jokowi signed Presidential Regulation No. 91/2019 on the executive body of the KPK’s supervisory council on Dec. 30 — more than a week after he inaugurated members of the council.
The KPK’s supervisory council is led by former KPK commissioner Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, who is to work alongside four council members: former Supreme Court justice Artidjo Alkostar, judge Albertina Ho, former Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) chief and former Constitutional Court justice Harjono and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political researcher Syamsuddin Haris.
Despite having been inaugurated on Dec. 20, they were unable to fully perform their duties until the council had an executive body.
The presidential regulation, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, mandated the council to form an executive body, called a supervisory body secretariat. It is to be led by a secretariat leader who reports directly to the council leader.
Article 2 of the regulation stipulates that the secretariat is to be tasked to “provide administrative and technical support for the supervisory council in overseeing the KPK”. Moreover, the executive body would facilitate the council on some of its tasks, including by receiving requests for wiretapping and confiscation permits.
“They [the secretariat] can provide suggestions for us on requests [from investigators] for wiretapping, confiscation and search warrants because they are an executive organ under our authority,” supervisory council leader Tumpak told the Post on Sunday.
Many lambasted the revised KPK Law because it, among other things, mandates the formation of a supervisory council to oversee the KPK and issue approval for raids, wiretapping and confiscation carried out by investigators.
Observers were concerned that such lengthy bureaucratic processes would hamper the antigraft body’s endeavors to eradicate corruption in the country once and for all.
Tumpak dismissed such concerns. “It is our exclusive authority to authorize any warrants. The secretariat won’t be able to influence that because they are just our executive body,” he said.
He added that it would hold a meeting on Monday to prepare for necessary actions regarding the secretariat, which include the recruitment of its leader and staff. This was expected to be completed by the end of this month.
KPK acting spokesperson Ali Fikri said the commission welcomed the formation of its supervisory body secretariat.
“We hope the supervisory body would form its completion apparatus as soon as possible as mandated by the presidential regulation. Once it’s up and running, it can help us in terms of technicalities regarding search, wiretap and confiscation warrants as mandated by the revised law,” he said on Sunday.
This presidential regulation is the first of three derivative regulations for the KPK Law. The government is still drafting two other regulations. One is to be the legal basis for the granting of civil apparatus status for KPK employees and another is to detail KPK’s new duties and functions.
Indonesia Corruption Watch said the supervisory body secretariat was actually one of the problematic provisions in the revised KPK Law, as it would hinder the KPK’s work on investigating corruption cases.
Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Dadang Trisasongko lamented that the presidential regulation did not address the lack of monitoring of the KPK’s supervisory body and its secretariat.
The House’s Commission III chairman, Herman Hery of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), assured the public that his commission would supervise the transparency and accountability of the supervisory body and its secretariat.
