House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs on Monday approved the proposal, which according to the agency’s chief Firli Bahuri would be used to increase the number of anticorruption counselors and integrity experts. It will then pass the proposal on to the House budget committee (Banggar).

Kurnia Ramadhana of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) questioned the urgency of the additional funds, saying the KPK's request was unacceptable as the country was now facing a difficult fiscal situation as a result of the pandemic.

The KPK, he said, also had not made any remarkable achievements under Firli's leadership.

“Having more agents is great, but the KPK doesn’t deserve a raise because it has not made any achievements, especially given this difficult situation. The KPK must evaluate itself and have a sense of crisis,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Firli on Monday at a hearing with Commission III said the additional amount requested was a meager figure compared to the Rp 90.5 trillion of state funds the agency had saved through graft prevention.

"I think asking for Rp 1.8 trillion is fair considering our accomplishments. We have secured more money than we were asked," Firli said.

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