Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Golkar and Democrat party lawmakers on Friday criticized prosecutors' pleas for the president to appoint an insider as attorney general.
House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the ruling Democratic Party, said prosecutors should not be publicly airing their desire that the attorney general come from within the department. "They could have hopes, but I think it should not be aired publicly," Marzuki said.
On Thursday, a group representing more than 8,000 prosecutors united under the Association of Indonesian Prosecutors (PJI) held a press conference in Jakarta to urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to choose a career prosecutor.
"We hope the president can hear our voice," association spokesman Chuck Suryosumpeno said.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said he hoped the president would choose a career prosecutor over an outsider to replace him when his term ends next month.
He has submitted the names of eight career prosecutors as candidates – seven deputy attorneys general and one expert coordinator.
However, antigraft activists from the Indonesia Corruption Watch, the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) and the Indonesian Society of Justice Observers all hope Hendarman's successor is an outsider.
Bambang Soesatyo, a Golkar lawmaker on the House's Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said a career prosecutor would not be much help when it came to internal reform.
"To avoid conflict of interest, the best candidate should not be a career prosecutor. An internal candidate would always have a psychological resistance to cleaning the AGO of corrupt officials," Bambang said.
He accused Hendarman of encouraging acts such as Thursday's press conference to force the president to name a career prosecutor.
Bambang said the president should take into consideration the cases of Cyrus Sinaga and Arthalita Suryani to remind himself that prosecutors were prone to abusing their authority for their own interest.
Cyrus has been implicated in the case of former tax official Gayus Tambunan, while Arthalita 'Ayin' Suryani paid prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan $660,000 in return for dropping an investigation into businessman Sjamsul Nursalim. Urip was also found guilty and sent to jail.
"Corruption and nepotism are common within the AGO. They protect at each other," Bambang said. "The president must be wise enough to consider all these facts before deciding whether the best candidates are career prosecutors or from outside."
But Marzuki said the appointment of an attorney general was solely the president's prerogative, which meant no one should object to the final decision.
He admitted that his party would support a candidate from within the department, saying such a candidate would able to act quickly to fix all errors within the office. "A career prosecutor knows already the problems within the institution, so he will best know how to handle matters," Marzuki added.