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Catch bigger fish, KPK
The 'big catch' came just as public trust in the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was plummeting.
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he arrest of former House of Representatives deputy speaker Azis Syamsuddin last week has raised questions about the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) timing; the “big catch” came just as public trust in the antigraft body was plummeting.
The KPK has been facing persistent criticism ever since it began a new era under a 2019 law that fundamentally changed its DNA from an independent body into a government institution. As if the degradation was not enough, two of its five leaders have been found guilty of ethics violations – but strangely only received lenient punishments.
Most recently, the KPK leaders organized a test to justify the ouster of “resistant” employees, including senior investigators known for their key roles in high-profile cases.
The purge will be completed on Thursday when 57 employees who failed the much-criticized civic knowledge test will officially be discharged.
KPK investigators arrested Azis at his house in South Jakarta on Friday night after he refused to answer a summons for questioning in a bribery investigation. He was later named a bribery suspect, which led him to immediately resign his post as deputy House speaker.
Azis is believed to have bribed then-KPK investigator Stepanus Robin Pattuju and lawyer Maskur Husain last year to prevent his name and that of fellow Golkar member Aliza Gunado from showing up in a KPK investigation into a graft case in Central Lampung in Lampung province.
When indicting Stepanus and Maskur on Sept. 13, KPK prosecutors told the court the commission was implicating Azis in three graft cases, namely bribery involving former Tanjungbalai mayor M. Syahrial, the payment of fees demanded by Azis and Aliza to Central Lampung Regent Mustafa in return for their help to facilitate a special allocation fund for the regency in 2017 and bribery involving former Kutai Kartanegara regent Rita Widyasari.
Azis was also named in the November 2020 testimony of Insp. Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte, who was standing trial for allegedly accepting bribes from fugitive businessman Djoko S. Tjandra in return for the latter’s removal from the Interpol's red notice. Azis has also been implicated in high-profile cases such as the electronic ID card case and the mark-up in the procurement of driver's license simulators.
That the KPK has finally arrested Azis deserves credit, considering the politician’s prominence and supposedly close connection to the powerful people who helped him escape justice. Golkar, to which Azis is affiliated, is a key part of the ruling coalition.
Prior to taking action against Azis, the KPK brought to justice then-Golkar chairman and House speaker Setya Novanto in 2017 and then former social affairs minister Idrus Marham in 2018. The old KPK also dared to arrest members of the President's inner circle.
The revised KPK Law may pose administrative difficulties on the KPK, but they should not prevent the current antigraft leaders from matching the achievements of their predecessors. To prove the doubters wrong about their allegations that Azis is just a fall guy and that the KPK needs to regain public confidence, the graft busters should not rest with Azis.
Only if the KPK is able to catch the bigger fish, the untouchables, can it fully restore its credibility and pride.
