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They all fall down: New law seen in subverting KPK
Jakarta Globe - March 6, 2015
Speculation came after the State Palace announced that President Joko Widodo would soon issue a presidential regulation on graft prevention, which one top official said would make preventive measures the main focus of the fight against corruption across the country.
Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto confirmed that prevention would make up the bulk of the fight against graft, but the regulation would not alter or affect the highly respected Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
"The regulation will not impact the KPK," he said on Thursday. "It merely instructs ministries and government institutions to improve internal mechanisms that would prevent corruption from happening."
The KPK and other law enforcement agencies will as a result be more involved in ridding the nation of graft; not less, he added.
The regulation "will allow law enforcers to quickly identify signs of administrative violations and the illegal use of state funds," the minister said, adding that this would allow law enforcers, such as the KPK, to act before corruption actually occurs, thus preventing state losses.
The National Development Ministry is currently finalizing the regulation. And once the draft reaches the president, it may be enacted in "four to six days."
In campaign promises made last year, Joko vowed to shift the government's entire budgeting, procurement and evaluation system online in order to push for more transparency and accountability.
The ongoing controversy surrounding Jakarta's city budget has shed light on the ease at which projects and programs – often unnecessary – can be manipulated, causing billions of dollars in losses.
Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama last month revealed Rp 12 trillion ($925 million) worth of additions to the capital's budget proposal that had not been approved by City Hall, nor requested by local officials.
The changes, Basuki said, could only have been made during legislative budget deliberations by members of the City Council. Similar discrepancies were discovered in last year's budget Basuki said, citing the unneeded procurement of uninterruptible power supplies for schools across Jakarta as an example. The city's education agency vehemently denied requesting the UPS machines, the prices of which were listed at 300 times their true retail value.
Experts and activists have long argued that graft prevention in Indonesia borders on nonexistent, putting the blame largely on a corrupt government.
Though the KPK has successfully jailed district heads, governors and ministers for cases ranging from budget manipulation, the misappropriation of funds or assets, to tender rigging and receiving kickbacks from contractors, the state has yet to make financial transactions more transparent.
Interim KPK commissioner Johan Budi, who until recently was chief of the agency's corruption prevention unit, reminded the government not to sideline the law enforcement aspect of fighting graft.
"Prevention and enforcement play equal parts [in fighting corruption]," Johan said on Thursday. He added that arrests and convictions serve as momentum for change the government rarely seizes.
"You cannot have one without the other. We are carrying out both simultaneously, with equal effort and speed."
The recent spat between the KPK and the police, spurred by Joko's surprising decision to select a candidate with a questionable track record for National Police chief, has spurred observers to question the president's commitment to combatting corruption.
The antigraft body declared Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as a suspect for bribery and money laundering on Jan. 12, but Joko pressed on with his choice until unrelenting public pressure forced him to drop Budi as the only candidate for police chief.
Joko has also stayed clear from apparent retaliative attacks launched by the National Police as they dug up closed cases against all four KPK commissioners and dozens of investigators, some of which were nearly a decade old and all built on dubious grounds.
Tensions finally eased when Joko appointed current police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti as his sole candidate for police chief. However, Joko also suspended two KPK commissioners from active duty, replacing them with three interim chiefs.
KPK investigators and staffers voiced their unhappiness with the move, calling the replacements "ghosts who are afraid of the police" in a protest on Tuesday.
Just days after the interim chiefs were sworn in, the KPK transferred Budi's case to the Attorney General's Office – an institution that has had little success in prosecuting graft cases and has itself been the subject of numerous corruption cases.
Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo has already indicated his office would not be pursuing the case against Budi, potentially derailing Joko's pledge for reform.
The president has expressed his wish to see nothing but harmony between the KPK, National Police and AGO, conceding that the antigraft body's interim chiefs were chosen based on their ability to quell tensions with the police.
"They must go hand in hand; help each other. They must foster synergy in the fight against corruption. This must be their focus," he said at an exclusive interview with BeritaSatu TV aired on Tuesday.
"If all three agencies can cooperate with one another, there is so much they could do to combat corruption," the president said.
"But if each institution chooses to work alone, refuses to share information and prioritizes its own ego, this is what happens," he added, referring to the vindictive squabble between the KPK and National Police.
Activists and academics were quick to point out that Joko's focus on harmony without addressing the root of the problem only undermines the antigraft body's credibility, while gracing corrupt law enforcers with impunity.
"The police's impact on the fight against corruption is nothing compared to the KPK's," said State Islamic University rector Komaruddin Hidayat, arguing that the National Police and AGO are themselves rife with corruption.
Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Tedjo Edhy Purdijanto denied that Joko was trying to undermine the KPK by choosing dubious interim commissioners and now by drafting the new regulation.
"The president and his administration remain committed to the KPK and the fight against corruption," he said on Thursday.
As a possible sign that the move to hand over Budi's case to the AGO was nothing more than a bargaining tool, Badrodin announced on Wednesday that the police would likely drop all pending investigations into KPK commissioners and investigators – except non-active chief Abraham Samad and his deputy Bambang Widjojanto.
Still, police have yet to ease pressure on its current foe, expanding its investigation into those supporting the KPK in the recent spat. Police on Thursday summoned former deputy justice minister and academic Denny Indrayana for questioning in relation to an online payment system for passport applications inside the ministry meant to help prevent graft.
Denny said the move was an effort to "criminalize an unprecedented technological innovation that works to prevent extortion practices." "[The investigation] also criminalizes the KPK and its supporters," he added.
Investigators claimed they had examined 12 witnesses since receiving a complaint last month from a little-known group called Pijar. Police have yet to calculate state losses incurred by the online payment method – if any. They are questioning its use of vendors – who receive the payments before passing them on to the state, charging a fee for their services – instead of letting the funds go straight into state coffers.
Police claim they have also received complaints from similarly unknown groups against 26 KPK leaders and investigators, as well as Tempo magazine and former anti-money laundering agency chief Yunus Husein.
Yunus's office was the first to flag irregular transactions involving millions of dollars in Budi's bank account in 2010. Tempo was among the first media groups to report the findings.
Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/fall-new-law-seen-subverting-kpk/.
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