JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) 2019-2023 leadership selection committee said that it would guarantee equal treatment and opportunity for all KPK leadership candidates during the selection process. Candidates\' professional or institutional backgrounds would not influence the selection process.
Currently, the selection committee is conducting the administrative selection of 384 registered candidates. On 11 July 2019, the names of candidates who pass the administrative selection will be announced for public vetting.
Afterward, the selection committee will continue with the next stages in the selection process, the dates of which are to be determined. These subsequent stages comprise a competency test, psychological test, profile assessment, track record assessment, public exam, medical test and interview.
Selection committee member Hendardi said in Jakarta on Sunday (7/7/2019) that the committee ensured all these stages would be held transparently. The public exam, for instance, will be facilitated by TV stations.
"The selection process for the upcoming term of the KPK leadership is strict. All candidates are treated equally and their professional and institutional backgrounds will not affect the process," Hendardi said.
He said that academics and lawyers dominated the list of KPK leader candidates this time around. Active and retired police personnel as well as KPK officials are also among the candidates.
Public skepticism
Regarding skepticism by some on the quality of the KPK leadership candidates, Hendardi said that the committee had met with and invited many individuals to register, including anticorruption activists. However, until registration was closed, only a few individuals from such backgrounds registered.
Hendardi also reaffirmed that the public would not need to worry about the abundance of active and retired police personnel among the candidates. He said that police personnel had been included in the KPK\'s leadership in three terms.
"Institutionally, the National Police supports the KPK\'s work, such as in law enforcement, in line with the requirement for the police to help the KPK with its work," he said.
Track record assessment
A coalition of civil groups will assess the candidates\' track record. Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Kurnia Ramadhana said that the track record assessment would be held after the KPK leadership selection team announced the names of the candidates who passed the administrative selection. "Currently, it is impossible [to do the track record assessment] as the KPK has yet to announce [the result of the administrative selection]," Kurnia said.
Thus far, Indonesian Legal Roundtable deputy director Erwin Natosmal Oemar said, activists\' involvement in assessing the candidates\' track record was limited to assessing the backgrounds of candidates whose names circulated in the mass media. However, Erwin urged the KPK leadership selection committee to immediately formulate and announce clear indicators used in the selection process.
Andreas Marbun of the University of Indonesia\'s Judicial Watch Society (MaPPI FH UI) said that the public remained in the dark regarding the indicators for the KPK leadership candidates. He continued that he hoped the selection committee would establish exact standards and indicators for the candidates they were looking for. He said that "honesty" and "having integrity" were too broad as criteria.
"The selection committee should have clear derivative indicators on what kind of leaders it is looking for," Andreas said.
According to him, this is highly necessary considering the complex issues the KPK leaders must face in 2019-2023, citing demands to strengthen prevention and prosecution, as well as organizational management. Complexities in corruption eradication in the private sector requires KPK leaders to understand corporate and criminal law.
Andreas reaffirmed that, with clear selection indicators and a fair selection process, candidates\' background would not be a problem, including whether they are professionals, bureaucrats, lawyers, lecturers, police personnel or others. (SAN/INK)