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Ministerial candidates' track records raise red flags
Jakarta Post - October 21, 2014
KPK chairman Abraham Samad, accompanied by his three deputies, Bambang Widjojanto, Zulkarnain and Adanan Pandu Praja, submitted a report of the KPK's findings to Jokowi on Sunday, following the President's request to look into the candidates' track records.
Zulkarnain said Monday that the commission urged Jokowi not to appoint candidates that the antigraft body considered "problematic" or "potentially problematic".
"I don't want to comment on specific individuals, but in general we expect that [Jokowi] will not appoint individuals whom we consider problematic," Zulkarnain said on Monday, adding that the KPK had no authority to force Jokowi to acceding to its request.
The People's Consultative Aseembly (MPR) swore in Jokowi as the country's seventh president on Monday, and he is expected to announce the structure of his Cabinet on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Zulkarnain said the commission had presented a color-coded report to Jokowi, according to which ministerial candidates implicated in a graft case were given a "red" mark, while those with a "yellow" mark were prone to being implicated in a graft probe in the future.
Zulkarnain refused to reveal the names of the candidates who had "red" marks. "We do not have any authority to claim that certain candidates should or should not be appointed ministers. We are just offering our views regarding the candidates Jokowi submitted to the KPK," Zulkarnain said.
The Jakarta Post has learned that National Police chief for education and training, Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, who in 2010 faced allegations of dubious transactions in his bank accounts, and RJ Lino, the president director of state port operator PT Pelindo II, who was summonsed by the KPK earlier this year in its investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the purchase of US$20 million worth of port equipment, were two of the 43 names on the list of candidates selected by Jokowi.
Budi is a confidant of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, also the country's fifth president, while RJ Lino is rumored to have a close relationship with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Also included on the list of ministerial candidates is former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Darmin Nasution, who has been questioned as part of the KPK's investigation into the high-profile tax scandal involving the nation's third-largest lender, Bank Central Asia (BCA). Darmin was questioned as a witness in his capacity as the Finance Ministry's former director general of taxation.
Another of Jokowi's ministerial candidates is former manpower and transmigration minister and National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Muhaimin Iskandar, who has also been linked to a high-profile graft case at his office. The PKB is one of the parties in the PDI-P-led coalition that supported Jokowi's presidential bid.
Other ministerial candidates examined by the antigraft body are the PDI-P's Hasto Kristiyanto; Eva Kusuma Sundari; Pramono Anung Wibowo; Puan Maharani, who is Megawati's daughter; Tjahjo Kumolo; Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan, who was Jokowi's campaign spokesman, and state-owned rail company PT KAI's president director, Ignasius Jonan.
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