Anita Rachman – In response to a legal motion filed by Indonesia Corruption Watch, lawmakers have defended their decision to only allow a one-year term for new antigraft chief Busyro Muqoddas.

Busyro was selected as the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Nov. 25 and was inaugurated on Monday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Although the position is usually held for a term of four years, House Commission III lawmakers ruled that Busyro would only be given one year in office to complete the tenure of former chairman Antasari Azhar who is now in jail for murder.

Debates have raged over whether the new chairman should serve a full term, or whether he should serve the remainder of his predecessor's term.

Prominent national corruption watchdog ICW filed a judicial review to the Constitutional Court on Monday, accusing the House of Representatives of trying to weaken the country's corruption eradication efforts by insisting on the one-year term.

"What can Busyro do in a year?" asked Emerson Yunto, vice coordinator of ICW. "He needs more time to be able to make progress. With only a one-year office term, I don't see how he can optimize the KPK's work."

However, deputy chairman of Commission III, Tjatur Sapto Edy from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the lawmakers' decision was correct. "House legislators are given the task of deliberating laws because they are the ones who understand the law best," he said.

But Emerson disagreed. "According to the law, the House's task is only to select the KPK commissioner, not decide how long they should stay in office," he said.

"[Furthermore,] the House has vested interests in this decision since 36 of the House's [former] members have been named as corruption suspects."

Through filing a judicial review, the corruption watchdog has asked the Constitutional Court to provide its interpretation of the 2002 KPK law on the agency chief's office term, to decide whether Busyro should serve a full four-year term or only one year as dictated by the House of Representatives.

Following his inauguration, the new KPK chief is expected to immediately tackle some high-profile cases such as the tax mafia case that implicated former tax official Gayus Tambunan as well as the Bank Century bailout case.

Another member of Commission III, Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the ICW's move to file a legal motion is not in line with existing law. Only state institutions are eligible to file a motion, he said, and the ICW is a nongovernmental organization.

Gayus added that article 34 of the KPK law, the basis of ICW's legal motion, is open to interpretation as the article only states that the KPK commissioner is to serve a four-year term.

However, he said, since Antasari was prosecuted for murder in the middle of his term, the House has the task of approving a replacement – an incident that had yet to be regulated in the 2002 law regarding KPK leadership. "Of course anyone could try their luck at the Constitutional Court," Gayus commented.