Nivell Rayda – About half of all accepted applicants for the next leader of the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission survived the first round of cuts, including some controversial figures, officials announced on Sunday.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, who chairs the 13-member ad-hoc selection committee, said 145 applicants passed the administrative part of the selection process and had moved on to the next round – interviews and writing a paper on corruption.
As expected, former Constitutional Court Chief Jimly Asshiddiqie and Judicial Commission Chairman Busyro Muqoddas – both seen as leading contenders – qualified.
Jimly, who is recognized for turning the Constitutional Court into a respected institution, last week resigned from his post on the presidential advisory board to concentrate on the race to head the antigraft commission, known as the KPK.
Busyro leads the Judicial Commission and is a longtime critic of a justice system frequently mentioned as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country, according to surveys by Transparency International Indonesia.
Several other more controversial applicants are still in the running as well, such as Bonaran Situmeang, the lawyer for businessman Anggodo Widjojo, who is currently on trial for obstruction of justice and attempting to bribe two KPK deputies. The KPK has also accused Bonaran of trying to bribe a key witness with Rp 1 billion ($110,000) to change his testimony.
Labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan also qualified. In 1996, Muchtar, who was then chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), was sentenced to four years in jail by the Supreme Court for inciting hatred against the government. Muchtar was later accused of swindling more than Rp 1.8 billion of the union's social security funds but was acquitted of all charges in 2005.
Gordon Mogot, a retired police officer who once headed the North Sulawesi Police, also made the cut. Gordon was once accused of accepting Rp 300 million in bribes related to a land dispute in the province. Gordon was investigated before a National Police ethics committee but was acquitted of all charges.
Selection committee member MH Ritonga said that for the next 30 days, the team would welcome all objections from the public regarding the candidates.
"We will coordinate with the police, the prosecutor's office, BIN [State Intelligence Agency] and several nongovernment groups to provide us input so we can conduct background checks on the candidates," Ritonga said.
The committee is expected to conduct two more rounds of screening before presenting two final candidates to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for approval on Sept. 15. Once approved, the candidates will undergo a fit-and-proper test at House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs.
The 142 applicants who have been eliminated either failed to meet the requirements or did not submit the necessary documents.
"There are candidates who didn't submit legalized copies of their certificates, didn't submit their letters of reference from their previous places of work or a statement that they are not members of a political party," Patrialis said.
Lawyers Farhat Abbas and Otto Cornelius Kaligis both fall outside the age requirement as laid out in the law on the antigraft commission. The law says candidates to lead the agency must be between 40 and 65 years old and have at least 15 years of experience in legal or related fields.
Farhat, 34, shot to fame after marrying pop singer Nia Daniati and representing teenage model Manohara Odelia Pinot against her husband, Malaysian Prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry. Kaligis, 68, is renowned for defending graft suspects.
Both lawyers are challenging the age requirements by filing a judicial review of the provision with the Constitutional Court. Patrialis said that even if Farhat and Kaligis succeeded in amending the law, the two would still be disqualified because a Constitutional Court decision would not apply retroactively.
Farhat disagreed with that notion. "The selection committee should wait for the Constitutional Court decision and postpone the announcement," he said.