Effects of the Revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission Law, Internal Corruption Eradication Committee Continues to Have Problems

Now, it's the turn of the Deputy Chairman of KPK, Nurul Ghufron, to be reported to the KPK Supervisory Board (Dewas) for an alleged ethical violation. He is suspected of communicating with an official from the Ministry of Agriculture for the interest of transferring one of the ministry's employees. This report has had a long-lasting consequence, as Ghufron has actually reported one of the KPK Dewas members, Albertina Ho, to the KPK Dewas for alleged abuse of power.

Regrettable

Former member of Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from 2015-2019, Laode M Syarif said, when contacted on Saturday (27/4/2024), that he saw Nurul Ghufron's conflict with the KPK Supervisory Board as something that should be regretted. This is because it has an impact on the decreasing credibility of the KPK institution. If the KPK commissioner feels innocent, they should allow the Supervisory Board to investigate freely without the need for mutual reporting.

"The duties and authority of the Dewas are clear and guaranteed by law to supervise the behavior of the leadership and all KPK personnel," he said.

Laode also suggested that the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) focus more on working on more substantial efforts in preventing or eradicating corruption. What is happening now is actually contradictory because it seems that KPK members are busy with trivial matters that are unnecessary.

Also read: Internal KPK Problems Again, Nurul Ghufron Communicates with Ministry of Agriculture

"The short-term solution is that leadership is needed in the Corruption Eradication Commission which has been hit by too many internal crises," he continued.

As the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission of this term will end their tenure in December 2024, they hope that the selection committee (pansel) formed by the president in the future will consist of people who have integrity and knowledge about anti-corruption.

Law revision and selection of commissioners

Former KPK Advisor Budi Santoso believes that the internal polemic at KPK is actually not surprising. It could have been predicted a long time ago, especially when looking at the quality of the KPK selection committee for the current leadership period. Since the selection process, internal KPK or critical civil society groups have often protested against it.

"The protest is related to two things, especially revision of the KPK Law and secondly the selection process for KPK leaders. If you open the old documents file there are all the photos of the action, letters to the panel. However, at that time nothing was ignored. The show must go on and this is what we are seeing now," he said.

He is also concerned about the internal polemics that continue to plague the KPK. Starting from former KPK member Lili Pintauli Siregar who resigned due to allegations of gratuities, former KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri who resigned due to corruption allegations, to the latest incident involving Nurul Ghufron.

With a heavy heart, the moral standards of the KPK leadership for this period have been questioned by many parties.

This condition had actually been expected and predicted by him. It turns out, this actually happened in the middle periods and at the end of the KPK leadership's term of office. This started when former KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri boarded a helicopter and Lili Pintauli received a ticket to watch MotoGP in Mandalika, Lombok, NTB.

"With a heavy heart, it is true that the moral standards of the leadership of this period's KPK have been questioned by many parties, including us internally," he said.

If asked who is most responsible for this situation, according to him, it is the selection committee of that period. The situation was exacerbated by the surrounding circumstances, namely the changes that occurred within the KPK. Law Number 19 of 2019 concerning the KPK has had an impact on the weakening of the KPK because of its independence being removed.

"In the past, there was no such thing as SP3 (an order to stop an investigation), but now it exists. KPK employees are now all civil servants (ASN), which means their culture is different and they are becoming less independent and impartial," he added.

During the previous leadership era, according to Budi, the function of internal supervision was in place so that ethical violations could be minimized. However, the function of internal supervision has now been replaced with a new institution that actually nurtures cases of ethical and legal violations.

"In the previous period, there were violations and deviations, but not as severe as now because internal supervisors worked effectively with strict penalties," he explained.

Restore dignity

With such a complex situation, Budi believes that in the long term, there needs to be a strong political commitment or will to revise the KPK law to restore the credibility of the KPK. President and Vice President-elect Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka can start their government with this commitment.

If revising the law requires a lot of political energy and consolidation, Prabowo can also issue a government regulation in lieu of law (perppu).

Revising the Corruption Eradication Commission Law is the first way to restore all of the Corruption Eradication Commission's authority.

However, he also realized that this was the highest demand (high call) for the new government in the future. Nevertheless, he hopes that the new government will be strongly committed to preventing and eradicating corruption.

"Revising the KPK Law is the first way to restore all of the authority that was revoked from the KPK. If it cannot be revised, at least revert to the old law," he said.

Also read: The Corruption Eradication Committee continues to decay

Based on the results of the Kompas R&D survey for the period December 2023, the good image of the KPK institution is at 47.5 percent. This figure is the lowest of the 22 surveys since January 2015. In fact, in the January 2015 survey, the KPK's good image was at 88.5 percent.

Still according to the results of the Kompas R&D survey, the decline in the KPK's image cannot be separated from a series of incidents that have led to this institution over the last four years. The revision of the KPK Law which was widely rejected by the public, the national insight test, and the change in status of KPK employees to ASN were the causes (Kompas.id, 3/1/2024).