Maria Rosari Dwi Putri, Jakarta – The Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition has rejected the composition of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) candidate leadership selection committee (pansel capim) established by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Friday May 17.
“The Coalition rejects the composition of the KPK pansel capim because there are serious concerns about several names on the pansel”, said Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Advocacy Division Chairperson Muhammad Isnur in an SMS message received by Antara in Jakarta on Saturday.
The YLBHI, which is one of the organisations that make up the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition, says that the composition of the KPK selection committee is out of step with the anti-corruption agenda and strengthening the KPK.
“So it will influence the quality of the KPK capim who will be selected later”, Isnur added.
Isnur then said that the Coalition believes that Widodo has already failed in confirming the team at the State Palace without giving serious consideration to the track records of the people selected as members of the pansel.
“If several pansel members have an especially close relationship with parties which have at odds with the KPK, or have a [poor] ethics records, of course they should not be forced into becoming pansel members”, said Isnur.
Furthermore said Isnur, the momentum of selecting a new KPK leadership should be used by Widodo to sideline pressure from and the interests of a handful of elite, because an accommodative stand on this issue will in fact threaten the anti-corruption agenda.
The Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition is made up of 11 organisations including the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Transparency International Indonesia (TII), the Constitutional Studies Centre (Pusako), the Gajah Mada University Faculty of Law Anti-Corruption Studies Centre (Pukat UGM), YLBHI, Malang Corruption Watch (MCW), the People’s Corruption Eradication Committee (KRPK), the Advocacy Centre for People’s Rights and Education Medan (SAHDAR Medan), the Cross Tertiary Education Anti-Corruption Movement (GAK Lintas Perguruan Tinggi), Clean Banten (Banten Bersih) and the Aceh Transparency Society (MaTA Aceh).
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil tolak komposisi pansel capim KPK”.]
Notes
In January 2015 the national police launched a witch hunt against the KPK after it named Widodo’s nominee for the new National Police Chief, General Budi Gunawan (a member of Megawati Sukarnoputri’s inner circle), a suspect in a corruption case. The police subsequently arrested KPK leaders Bambang Widjojanto and Abraham Samad – known for their aggressive prosecution of corrupt officials, judges, generals and politicians – on a variety trumped up charges. In late 2015 Widodo “suspended” Widjojanto and Samad on the grounds that they were facing criminal charges (which the police later dropped) and replaced them with more “compliant” interim chiefs which anti-graft activists said had dubious records on fighting graft and would weaken the highly respected commission’s fight against corruption. Since then the KPK has been accused of only going after lower-level officials and with a few exceptions failing to pursue cases against senior government officials and politicians.
Source: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/875956/koalisi-masyarakat-sipil-tolak-komposisi-pansel-capim-kpk
