Integrity the Focus of Assessment

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Track records are important in measuring the integrity of the candidates for the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). With regard to this matter, the compliance of the candidates in reporting wealth needs to be assessed.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Integrity and professionalism in combating corruption are the main consideration of the KPK’s Leadership Selection Committee (Pansel) in selecting candidates for KPK leadership for the 2019-2023 term. However, in this selection process there has been no assessment related to the compliance of the candidates who are state administrators in reporting their wealth. In fact, reporting wealth is one indicator of the integrity of public officials.

After announcing that 192 KPK leadership candidates had passed the administrative selection, now the Pansel in selecting candidates for the KPK leadership is preparing for the next selection stage, namely competency tests related to the candidates’ objectivity and paper writing.
In the selection stage that will take place on July 18, deputy chairperson of the Pansel KPK Indriyanto Seno Adji said that the Pansel will emphasize the assessment of the formal understanding and materials of the leadership candidates on the thorough eradication and prevention of corruption.
"The most important thing is that we make the integrity, professionalism, and capabilities of the candidates a measure and basis for the assessment," Indriyanto said on Friday (12/7/2019), in Jakarta.
With regard to this, Indriyanto further said that the Pansel will carefully assess the track record, vision and plan of all the candidates. In this process, all candidates from various backgrounds have the same opportunity in the selection.
The largest portion of the 192 delegates, who last Thursday were declared to have passed the administrative selection, consists of 40 people who have the background in the academic / lecturer profession. Then they are followed by advocates/legal consultants (39), prosecutors/judges (18), corporation executives (17), KPK commissioners or employees (13), members of the National Police (13), auditors (9), and other professions (43).
Wealth report
Some of the high ranking police officers who passed the administrative selection stage are believed to not have submitted the wealth reports in their capacity as the state administrators in 2019. Meanwhile, there are some of the high-ranking police officers who have submitted the wealth reports beyond the deadline, namely in March in every year.
"It is very regrettable that the Pansel KPK does not pay attention to the wealth report compliance issues from applicants who come from the elements of state administrators, civil servants, and law enforcement institutions," said a researcher of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Kurnia Ramadhana.
In fact, Wana Alamsyah, another ICW researcher, said that the wealth report compliance issues are one of the indicators of the integrity of public officials because wealth reporting is a legal obligation of each state administrator.
KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO
Applicants submit their documents to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leadership selection committee (Pansel) at the State Secretariat on 4 July 2019 in Jakarta.
Responding to that, the chairperson of the Pansel KPK, Yenti Garnasih, admitted that in the administrative selection, the selection process did not cover the wealth reports of the state administrators.
In fact, in the entire selection process of the KPK leadership candidates there were no provisions regarding the wealth reports. "Except for making a statement that if elected, they must submit the wealth reports, in addition to temporarily quitting their positions or not concurrently holding positions. The wealth reports must be submitted after taking office," she said.
However, Yenti stressed that the Pansel KPK were not closed to input from the public, including the ICW. Therefore, if indeed those who said there was evidence on the issues related to wealth were welcome to report it to the committee. "The rules regarding the wealth reports do not have sanctions. We will also discuss it in the Pansel KPK," Yenti said.
KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah hoped the Pansel will be careful when looking at the track record and compliance in reporting the personal assets. The reason is that these two things are important measures in presenting good KPK leaders. "If the selection process is not carried out carefully and the track record of the integrity aspect is ignored, it is not impossible that the results of the selection will help weaken the KPK in the future," he said.
Febri confirmed that the KPK was ready to help the Pansel examine the track records of the KPK leadership candidates.
The thing related to the track records that also needs to be considered from the KPK leadership candidates, said Kurnia, is that they must never have been involved in any problems in the past. This point can be measured by several indicators. "For example, from the applicants, they must be free from legal records. The issue that is also quite important is related to the alleged violations of the ethics on the part of the applicants at previous institutions," he said.
Transparency
A criminal law lecturer at Parahyangan University, Bandung, Agustinus Pohan, said that the presence of KPK commissioners with the background of police officers or prosecutors was not an obligation. However, the presence of KPK leaders who are members of the police or prosecutors also cannot be excluded.
The most important thing, Pohan said further, was that elected KPK commissioners must fully work for the KPK. "If there are police officers or prosecutors who are elected as KPK leaders, they must show themselves that they are not an extension of the previous institutions. They must work independently and self reliantly as KPK leaders," Agustinus said.
KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI
Workers polish the frontispiece of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta on 20 June 2019.
Agustinus also reminded that KPK leaders for the 2019-2023 term could break away from various political interests. The handling of corruption cases must always be based on legal evidence and facts and not because of certain political relations. "Therefore, transparency is important for the KPK in handling cases. Openness can be assessed directly by the public," he said. ( SAN/SHR/EDN/INK)

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