INDONESIA
The Jakarta Post-Mar 19
What is wrong with the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) prior notice to name more candidates contesting in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections suspects, after arresting several others? At least in the eyes of Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, the KPK is playing with fire.
Speaking after a meeting with poll organizers and supervisors last week, Wiranto asked the antigraft body to delay its investigations into the candidates — and subsequently withdraw their suspect status — until voting ends on June 27. Wiranto might claim to represent the government, but everybody knows he founded and is the chief patron of the Hanura Party, one of the political parties that will fight to help their best bets win the elections for regional heads in 17 provinces, 39 cities and 115 regencies.
The June elections are especially strategic as they will allow the parties to warm up for the 2019 legislative and presidential elections. But with all eyes on the two-successive major political bouts, the separation between government officials, political party leaders and figureheads blurs.
The government’s position became clear when both attorney general Muhammad Prasetyo and National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian agreed to put a halt to all criminal investigations into the candidates, until all the election stages are completed.
For one thing, the discrepancy between the government and the KPK highlights the acute problem of unity, particularly in the fight against corruption, and law enforcement in general. History has shown a bitter rivalry between the KPK and the police force and, to a lesser degree, between the KPK and the Attorney General’s Office.
With corruption remaining unabated, the KPK’s sting operations that resulted in the arrest of several regional heads contesting the June elections have undoubtedly won over the public. Few would also disagree with the KPK’s plan to name more incumbent regional heads suspects, as the public is longing for leaders with impeccable integrity.
Trillions of rupiah will be wasted if the winners cannot fulfill their campaign promises because they must be detained and serve jail terms for corruption. Indonesian democracy will suffer a much bigger loss as voters choose politicians who manage to cover up their corrupt practices with flattering PR campaigns.
To raise the voters’ awareness of candidates’ track records, including their integrity, the KPK must carry on its anticorruption drive. Regional elections are just ordinary events that cannot stop the enforcement of the law. Of course, there is the risk that the upcoming elections will be laden with corruption, but blame that on the political parties that have compromised their integrity when selecting candidates.
The only concern over the KPK’s relentless operations is a possibility for certain candidates or their supporters to tip off the KPK with initial evidence of their rivals’ acts of corruption. While we have no doubt about the KPK’s integrity, prudence will prevent it from working as a proxy of certain parties.
To fend off such allegations, the KPK can simply operate in silence and beyond fanfare.
(first published in The Jakarta Post – http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/03/19/editorial-integrity-first.html)
