Haryanti Puspa Sari, Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Diky Anandya says that the composition of candidate names for the next leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is not ideal because half of them are law enforcement officials.
"If we look closely at the composition of the candidates who passed, it cannot be said to be ideal, because out of the 10 names that passed, 50 percent of them come from law enforcement agencies", said Anandya when contacted by Kompas.com on Thursday October 3.
Anandya noted that the KPK Law does not stipulate that there must be law enforcement officials to fill the KPK leadership structure.
Aside from this, he said that the perspective of leaders that came from law enforcement backgrounds actually opens up the potential for conflicts of interest and dual loyalties.
According to Anandya the House of Representatives (DPR) must pay attention to this when conducting a fit and proper test on the 10 KPK leadership candidates.
"ICW encourages the DPR to really pay attention to the integrity and competence aspect of each candidate so as not to repeat the same mistakes when choosing commissioners who were proven to be problematic in 2019", he said.
Contacted separately, Gajah Mada University (UGM) Faculty of Law Anti-Corruption Studies Centre (Pukat UGM) researcher Zaenur Rohman also highlighted the large number of KPK leadership candidates who have backgrounds as law enforcement officials such as police, prosecutors, judges and auditors.
Rohman is of the view that the KPK leadership should be filled by professional and civil society elements in order to guarantee the independence of the anti-corruption agency.
"In order to be able to guarantee the independence of the KPK. If the KPK is dominated by other law enforcement officials, the KPK will be steered", said Rohman when contacted by Kompas.com, on Wednesday October 2.
Rohman said that if the KPK is not independent, the institution can easily be used as a protector of law enforcement officials. He is also concerned that dual loyalties will emerge among KPK leaders, between being loyal to the KPK and to their original agency.
"If the KPK cannot be independent, dual loyalties can arise. Individuals can be loyal to the KPK, but also loyal to their original institution. And this has happened over the last five years", said Rohman.
As reported earlier, the KPK Candidate Leadership Selection Committee (Pansel Capim KPK) has submitted a list of 10 candidates who passed the interview and health test stages with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
The ten candidates who passed are Agus Joko Pramono, Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih, Djoko Poerwanto, Fitroh Rohcahyanto, Ibnu Basuki Widodo, Ida Budhiati, Johanis Tanak, Michael Rolandi Cesnanta Brata, Poengky Indarti and Setyo Budiyanto.
The candidates with a law enforcement background are Poerwanto and Budiyanto who come from the police, Rohcahyanto and Tanak from the prosecutor's office and Widodo who is a judge.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "ICW Anggap Komposisi 10 Capim KPK Tak Ideal, Setengahnya Aparat Penegak Hukum".]
