APSN | KPK confirms TNI recruitment option

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KPK confirms TNI recruitment option

Jakarta Globe - May 8, 2015

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Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Erwin Sihombing & Banjir Ambarita, Jakarta/Jayapura – The Corruption Eradication Commission has confirmed that it is considering recruiting military officers to join its ranks, but denies that they will be assigned as investigators.

Taufiequrachman Ruki, the interim chairman of the commission known as the KPK, said he and other antigraft leaders recently met with Indonesian Military (TNI) commanders and suggested that several vacant posts at the KPK could be filled by TNI officers.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with TNI officers joining the KPK. Of course they would have to go through the same selection process and once they pass they would have to give up [their military role] and become civilians," Ruki said.

The KPK chairman said the agency needed to recruit some 286 people, including for 72 strategic posts that are currently vacant.

Ruki said these vacancies were for the KPK's chief of graft prevention, director of preliminary investigations, legal bureau head and chief spokesman.

Interim KPK deputy chairman Johan Budi said serving military officers could also stand in as head of the KPK's security division. "Not as investigators, but in supporting roles," Johan said, adding that the KPK was still studying the regulations to see if such recruiting was even possible.

TNI officers are currently only permitted to assume certain civilian posts, such as with the Defense Ministry, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya revealed the plan on Tuesday, saying the TNI was ready to send out "its finest investigators" to work with the KPK.

TNI chief Gen. Moeldoko said on Friday that the KPK had promised certain posts to the military. "It is agreed that the role of a KPK secretary general will be filled by a two-star general and the KPK's internal supervision chief will be filled by a one-star general," he said in Jayapura, Papua province.

Mahfudz Siddiq, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission I, which oversees defense, intelligence and foreign affairs, described the plan as a "blunder" and promised to veto it.

Mahfudz said the government must underline the military's role as a defender against outside threats, not as a law-enforcement institution.

He said House Commission I would not allow the initiative to move forward. "We will also ask for the TNI's clarification on the matter," he said.

Activists have stopped short of welcoming the plan, saying that while the move could strengthen the KPK, it could also hinder the body's independence – particularly as the TNI has failed to reform itself and remains financially murky.

Ray Rangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civil Society Circle (Lima), said the KPK may want to forge stronger ties with the military to stand up against the National Police, widely perceived as the most corrupt institution in Indonesia.

After the January naming of police general Budi Gunawan as a suspect in a graft case, the police have opened criminal investigations against dozens of KPK leaders and investigators, in apparent retaliation. Ray said the TNI's presence at the KPK would at least make police think twice about continuing their witch hunt.

"This threat [of police retaliation] is very real and has seriously weakened the KPK," he said. "The TNI's willingness to join the KPK should be seen as a positive move to keep the fight against corruption alive."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/kpk-confirms-tni-recruitment-option/.