In carrying out its functions and duties, state administrators must be honest, fair, open, trustworthy and be able to free themselves from corruption, collusion and nepotistic (KKN) practices.
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In carrying out its functions and duties, state administrators must be honest, fair, open, trustworthy and be able to free themselves from corruption, collusion and nepotistic (KKN) practices.
That is the content of Article 2 Paragraph (2) of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree Number XI/MPR/1998 on State Administrators who are free from KKN practices. The content is closely related to Paragraph (1), which states that state administrators in executive, legislative and judicial institutions must carry out their functions and duties properly and be held accountable to the community, nation and state.
Even though it was decided more than 20 years ago and has been equipped with various regulations, including Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), it is indeed not easy to get state organizers who are clean and free from KKN practices. In judicative institutions, since the establishment of the KPK, more than 20 judges have been prosecuted for corruption. The Home Ministry also noted that in the period between 2004 and 2017, 313 regional heads were implicated in corruption. In 2018, as of July, 19 regional heads had been arrested by the KPK.
In the legislative body, the Home Ministry recorded that between 2005 and 2014 there were 3,169 members of Provincial/City/Regency Legislative Councils (DPRD) suspected of involvement in corruption, not including members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD). According to data from the KPK, between 2007 and 2014 there were 74 DPR members who were involved in corruption cases. The number of representatives arrested for corruption is even greater because the KPK between 2014 and 2018 repeatedly arrested representatives suspected of involvement in corruption.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) wants to realize the spirit of Decree No. XI/MPR/1998, which is in line with Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, by prohibiting former corruption convicts, those sentenced for sexual harassment of children and drug dealers from becoming representatives of the people. The KPU made regulation No. 20/2018 for the nomination of DPR and DPRD members, and No.14/ 2018 on the Nomination of DPD Members. However, the desire which is supported by the community cannot be easily realized because it is challenged by the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), the DPR, and the government. In a number of regions, such as Aceh, North Sulawesi, and Rembang regency (Central Java), former corruption convicts are still allowed to become election candidates.
Indeed, in the deliberation of the General Election Law and KPU regulation, the General Election Supervisory Body, the government and the House of Representatives agreed that in the nomination of members of DPRD and DPR and DPD, the KPU is asked to abide by the law. For candidates for DPR/DPRD members, for example, Article 240 of the General Election Law states, former prisoners who had been sentenced to five years or more, can propose their candidacy, as long as they honestly and openly announce to the public, that they are former convicts. However, the Corruption Eradication Commission Law clearly states that corruption can no longer be classified as an ordinary crime, but becomes an extraordinary crime. Efforts to eradicate corruption can no longer be done normally, but require extraordinary efforts. It is no longer enough with the legalistic approach by simply following the content of the law.
If the desire of the people in this country to realize a Republic of Indonesia that is free of KKN practices is blocked by other state organizers, corruption will surely become increasingly rampant. And finally it will be the people who suffer.