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Government shifts blame over KPK Law revision

Jakarta Post - October 10, 2015

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Ina Parlina, Tama Salim and Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – Following public outcry over a proposed amendment that would weaken the KPK, the government has shifted responsibility for the plan to the House of Representatives.

On Friday, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung declined to reveal the government's stance on the proposed amendment of Law No. 20/2002, saying the government would only give its opinion if the House made an official request.

"It is not yet the time for us to disclose our stance since it is still under an internal process [discussion] at the House," Pramono said on Friday.

The State Palace has declined to comment about the House's plan, but maintained that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would continue his support of the antigraft body.

In June, Jokowi, through Presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki, then member of the presidential communication team, rejected a House plan to amend the 2002 KPK Law, saying that the government had no intention of undermining the work of the KPK.

The proposed revision would have limited the KPK's power to investigate and prosecute graft cases However, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly denied that the recent draft bill proposed by the House was the same as the one presented earlier this year.

"From the beginning, it was the House that proposed the general outline, based on our understanding that the House would agree to a KPK Perppu [government regulation in lieu of the law]. Now, everybody thinks that the proposal for the amendment came from us," he said as reported by Antara news agency.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers have continued to play down the amendment plan. House deputy speaker Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party claimed the bill was still an unofficial draft and that it had not been officially taken on by the House for deliberation.

He said that the planned revision was still being deliberated by the House Legislation Body (Baleg).

"You should understand that the draft is not the actual bill; it is a draft bill that is currently being proposed as a bill. It still needs to be synchronized at the Baleg and discussed with the government," Agus said, adding that not all factions had agreed to the amendment.

Arsul Sani, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), said that several House members had proposed the revision be included in the 2015 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) due to its ambiguous status.

"This is just a continuation of what happened in June between Baleg and the Law and Human Rights Ministry. At the time, the minister agreed that the bill should go in the 2015 Prolegnas. However, Pak Jokowi disagreed. The [bill's] status has been left hanging; it's both in and out," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/10/government-shifts-blame-over-kpk-law-revision.html.