Antigraft Efforts Systematically Weakened

The House of Representatives Legislation Body has agreed to revive a plan to amend the Law on the KPK. Many believe this is part of a systematic effort to weaken the fight against corruption.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Cofounder of change.org Arief Aziz (right) and Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) law and judicial coordinator Emerson Yuntho bring a petition calling for the temporary suspension of deliberations on the Criminal Code bill and the criminal procedure bill to the House of Representative in Jakarta, Thursday (18/9/2014).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The House of Representatives (DPR) has revived a plan to revise Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The DPR discussed revising the law, which would change the KPK’s position and authority, during a meeting that was closed to the public.

The KPK Law draft revision, which will be brought to a House plenary session on Thursday (5/9/2019), is believed to be part of a systematic effort to weaken corruption eradication. At the same time, the public believes that problematic figures are among the 10 shortlisted candidates for the 2019-2023 KPK leadership term that President Joko Widodo submitted to the House on Wednesday.

The punishment for corruption has also been reduced in the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP) that the government and the House are currently deliberating. This is evident in Article 2 on self-enrichment in the Corruption Law that has been derived from Article 604 of the RKUHP on the minimum sentence for convicted corruptors, which has been reduced from four years to two years. Several articles in the draft Penitentiary Bill, which is also under deliberation, also stipulate reduced requirements for parole and assimilation of corruption convicts.

KPK chair Agus Rahardjo said he was shocked to hear that the House would be reviving the plan to revise the KPK Law. Furthermore, the draft legislation had also restored stipulations on dropping a case, on establishing a KPK supervisory council and on requiring permission for wiretapping from the KPK supervisory council.

“Such revisions will clearly weaken the KPK. What the KPK needs now is not a revision of the KPK Law, but a revision of the Corruption Law,” he said.

Agus also said he disagreed with the inclusion of corruption regulations in the draft Criminal Code Bill.

ANTARA FOTO/MOHAMMAD AYUDHA

A person signs a banner protesting against violence against women in Solo, Central Java, Sunday (12/9/2018). The activity was aimed at encouraging the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately approve a bill on the elimination of sexual violence that will provide protection for women to reduce the number of sexual violence cases.

Closed-door meeting

The decision to revise the KPK Law was made on Tuesday evening (3/9) during a plenary session of the House Legislation Body (Baleg). All House factions agreed to revise the KPK Law during the closed-door meeting. Legislation Body deputy chair Sudiro Asno then sent a letter instructing the House leadership to bring the draft bill to a House plenary session for deliberating as a House initiative.

Legislation Body member Masinton Pasaribu, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, said that the plan to revise the KPK Law was not new. However, it had been temporarily shelved due to the lawmakers’ preparations for the 2019 election. Deliberation on the revised law was resumed following the election. He confirmed that the plan to revise the KPK Law was discussed during a closed-door meeting.

“The House of Representatives has many kinds of meetings. The public is of course aware of open-door meetings. Closed-door meetings are [restricted] to Baleg,” said Masinton, who attended the meeting.

The plan to revise the KPK Law was revived in conjunction with the ongoing selection of the KPK leadership for the 2019-2023 term. The incoming KPK leadership would therefore refer to the revised KPK Law.

Six points regarding the KPK’s position and authority have been approved in the planned revision.

One, the KPK will be an independent authority that falls under the executive branch of government, and KPK employees will be civil servants.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Women stage rally to encourage the government to immediately approve a bill on the elimination of sexual violence that will provide protection for women to reduce the number of sexual violence cases. The rally was held during car free day at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta on Sunday (25/8/2019).

Two, the KPK will only be able to install wiretaps on approval from the KPK supervisory council. Three, the KPK is part of the country’s integrated criminal justice system and must coordinate with other law enforcement agencies.

Four, the KPK is to improve its preventive approach. All government institutions, ministries and bodies are required to manage the wealth reports of state officials before and after their terms. Five, a five-member KPK supervisory council is to be established to oversee the KPK.

Six, the KPK is to drop a corruption cases if it has not completed the investigation within one year, and must report this to the supervisory council and announced publicly.

Parahyangan University criminal law lecturer Agustinus Pohan said that several points of the planned revisions to the KPK Law would systematically weaken the KPK and corruption eradication efforts.

“If these are the contents [of the revised legislation], it will surely weaken [the KPK]. Lawmakers need to explain why a revision is necessary. So far, there have been no problems in implementing the articles in the KPK Law. So what is its purpose and urgency?” he said.

Lingkar Madani founder Ray Rangkuti said that revising the KPK Law would be a “bitter gift” at the end of the 2014-2019 legislative term. “The planned revision feels forced, considering that the 2014-2019 lawmakers’ term ends in three weeks,” he said.

The plan to revise the KPK Law has surfaced several times since the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The plan resurfaced in 2015 only to face widespread objection from the KPK and the public, after which President Joko Widodo and the House agreed in early 2016 to postpone the planned revision.

(AGE/IAN)