Corruption Law Enforcement 2020

The commemoration of World Anti-Corruption Day (Hakordia) was held on Dec. 9, 2019 and attended by Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin. Meanwhile, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo himself chose to attend a different event, "Achievement Without Corruption", which was held by the SMKN 57 Jakarta state vocational school.

World Anti-Corruption Day this time was held with the theme "Jointly Fighting Against Corruption for an Advanced Indonesia". On one occasion before the commemoration of World Anti-Corruption Day, the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Agus Rahardjo, said that 2019 was a tough year for efforts to eradicate corruption, but he still hoped the President had a new strategy for eradicating corruption. He said he also hoped that civil society would continue to exercise control over future strategies to eradicate corruption.

The problem of corruption and corruption law enforcement will always be the concern of all parties, including the President, so the new strategy that must be taken by law enforcement agencies is a joint strategy against corruption in line with the theme of World Anti-Corruption Day this year. Let us jointly fight against corruption for an advanced Indonesia.

There are opportunities and hopes

President Jokowi installed the new leaders of the KPK on Friday (20/12). Even though the KPK will have new leaders, anticorruption activists have expressed pessimism about the country\'s efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption. The state was even said to be in danger or a state of emergency over corruption because the new leadership of the KPK would later have to work based on the new KPK Law, which is considered to weaken the KPK.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Students from various universities flock to Jl. Gatot Subroto to take part a demonstration in front of the Senayan Legislative Building in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/9/2019). The demonstrators were objecting to problematic articles in a bill to revise the Criminal Code Bill and were demanding that the recently approved revisions of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law be revoked.

The failure of anticorruption activists to get the President to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu), coupled with the rejection of a judicial review of the KPK Law by the Constitutional Court, has been interpreted as a death knell for efforts to enforce the corruption law, which has been carried out so far. The existence of the KPK\'s new leadership, which was once rejected by the KPK internally, is believed to cause new friction within the KPK itself even though the new leaders promised to act professionally and embrace all parties.

We understand the narrative developed by the anticorruption activists. However, we must also be aware of the reality. It is important for all of us how we deal with future conditions with an unemotional, but realistic attitude. If we continue to lament the existing conditions, we will fail to stop the illusion of corrupt officials or corrupt candidates who think the KPK is finished.

A change of leadership means that there are challenges and hopes. We must see the existing conditions as challenges and opportunities in the future and, of course, opportunities will generate new hope. Challenges and opportunities arise not only for the KPK institution, but also for other law enforcement agencies to improve performance. Opportunities and competition are already open to be the best in law enforcement performance, specifically the prevention and eradication of criminal acts of corruption.

With their opportunities prosecutors and the police through their networks, personnel and large budgets are expected to be able to work optimally with the KPK. Cooperation among law enforcement agencies is not achieved because of structures, but because of partnership relations. Its goal is for there to no longer be institutional sentiment, but rather sentiment for the efforts of the whole country to prevent and eradicate corruption.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators display Rp 110 million in cash at a press conference on the results of a sting operation on bribery allegations related to a waterway project in Yogyakarta at the KPK building in South Jakarta on Aug. 20. (20/8/2019).

An optimistic attitude must still be maintained that the KPK and other law enforcement agencies such as the prosecutors and the police can carry out their duties and functions properly. Even though shortcomings are found here and there, the real work of the KPK cannot be denied to have made the public satisfied and relieved.

We also cannot close our eyes to the fact that there are many high-ranking police and prosecutors with integrity, such as the late Hoegeng and Baharuddin Lopa, and we still hope that such people will appear in the police and prosecutors’ offices today so that both institutions can work optimally.

Strategy and joint commitments

KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo said he hoped the President would have a new strategy for fighting corruption. If this time the theme of the World Anti-Corruption Day 2019 is "Jointly Fighting Against Corruption for an Advanced Indonesia", then we think the theme is very appropriate for the strategy of preventing and eradicating corruption in the future.

A strategy and joint commitment are needed to complement and coordinate with each other in efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption. This means that a joint commitment is built on a partnership relationship, not because of structure.

In this partnership relationship, a joint alliance can be formed to share knowledge (know-how) and networks (know-who) in law enforcement. If the KPK claims that in the past four years in the field of prevention it had managed to save trillions of rupiah in state funds, then in the future not only should we hear that the KPK has succeeded in doing that, but also other law enforcement agencies, such as the prosecutors and the police.

The new KPK leadership has committed to enhance cooperation with other law enforcement agencies in preventing and combating corruption. I think this commitment is more than enough to build a better partnership. We hope the new KPK leaders will not be discouraged by the pessimistic attitude of their predecessors.

Even though the KPK currently claims that in the 2015 to 2019 period it succeeded in preventing state losses amounting to Rp 63.9 trillion and the corruption index improved to a figure of 38, it cannot be said to be encouraging. New strategies in the field of prevention need to be done together so that the corruption index can be better than the existing one.

We hope there is a preventive system that can make the public feel comfortable and relieved. Therefore, integral research is needed to get a new prevention model that gives new hope to the public.

The management of confiscated goods, financial administration and investigations need to be improved.

If the previous KPK leaders said that what exists in the KPK at present is good and can simply be continued, we think it is too much. Some of it needs to be maintained, but some needs to be improved. The management of confiscated goods, financial administration and investigations need to be improved.

To become an organization that can compete in the future, the KPK must abandon its successes today to build for tomorrow. A future organization, of course, must continue to learn and improve itself because in this process the KPK can find positive new energy to improve its performance.

The commitment to prevent and eradicate corruption is a joint commitment of all parties, not only by law enforcement institutions, but also by the government and society. The success of a legal institution\'s work does not depend on the leadership, but on commitment and joint work. Pessimistic narratives from anyone must be rejected because they are not in accord with our joint commitment.

Kompas

Amir Syamsudin

Let\'s move forward together against corruption for an advanced Indonesia. This is a deep message for the KPK itself because the prevention and eradication of corruption is not the task of the KPK itself, but also the duty of all of us.

Amir Syamsudin, Former law and human rights minister of the Republic of Indonesia