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Analysis: Politicians among BPK candidates embroiled in corruption case
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Members of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) hold the eighth plenary session of the second session of the 2019-2020 session year at the House complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Jan. 22. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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ine out of 76 candidates in the running to become Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) members for the 2024 – 2029 period are politicians from political parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition Plus (KIM Plus) supporting president-elect Prabowo Subianto. The final decision on the new BPK members will be made later in September and will be sealed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, whose term will end in less than two months.
The nine candidates are Muhammad Misbakhun and Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi from the Golkar Party, Hendrik Halomoan Sitompul and Wahyu Sanjaya from the Democratic Party, Mulfachri Harahap and Jon Erizal from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Eva Yuliana and Hasbi Anshori from the NasDem Party and lastly Fathan Subchi from the National Awakening Party (PKB). Three of the nine candidates are included among the list of 10 candidates selected by the Regional Representative Council (DPD). They are Misbakhun, Jon Erizal and Hasbi Anshory.
The 10 candidates selected by DPD, however, will not automatically go to the next round of selection in the House of Representatives. House Commission XI on finance will conduct its own interview of the candidates on Sept. 4, and will select five of them later in September and send the names to President Jokowi.
The BPK is led by nine members, selected by the House. Five out of the current nine BPK members have backgrounds from political parties, and they are the ones who have made headlines because of misconduct. They have been implicated in cases involving corruption, bribery and sales of audit results, damaging the BPK’s reputation and undermining public trust to the institution.
The most recent corruption cases involve BPK Member VI Pius Lustrilanang and BPK Member III Achsanul Qosasi. Pius, a former Gerindra Party member, was involved in the buying and selling of audits by BPK officials in Sorong regency, Southwest Papua. Pius is currently a witness in the case, which is still ongoing.
Achsanul, a former member of the Democratic Party on the other hand, was accused of receiving a bribe of Rp 40 billion (US$2.6 million) in a 4G BTS project that caused Rp 8 trillion in state losses. The Jakarta Corruption Court found Achsanul guilty of receiving Rp 40 billion in bribes but sentenced him to only 2.5 years in prison.
The light sentence for Achsanul drew protests from civil society organizations. They argued that the sentence for a BPK member should be heavier than those under their supervision, such as an auditor. Back in 2018, BPK auditor Ali Sadli was sentenced to six years in prison and was ordered to pay a fine of Rp 250 million for accepting Rp 250 million in bribes and Rp 8.7 billion in gratuities.
