Arientha Primanita & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The final eight candidates eyeing top spots at the Corruption Eradication Commission were named on Thursday, with human rights advocate Bambang Widjojanto appearing the most likely to snare one of the four vacancies.
Justice and Human Right Minister Patrialis Akbar, who chairs a selection committee to assess candidates for the leadership of the body known as the KPK, said the group had disqualified two contenders: economist Sayid Fadhil and civil society activist Egi Sutjiati.
Last year, Bambang was eclipsed by Busyro Muqoddas in the contest to lead the antigraft body, but he remained a favorite among anticorruption activists and analysts.
Patrialis said Bambang had garnered the best score during the selection process, which began in May. Second on the list was Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), followed by two current KPK officials, Abdullah Hehamahua and Handoyo Sudrajat.
Rounding out the list are legal activist Abraham Samad, police commission member Adnan Pandu Praja, former prosecutor Zulkarnain and police officer Aryanto Sutadi.
Rhenald Kasali, a member of the selection committee, said the top four candidates were the ones most suited to lead the KPK, but he said the law required the final decision to be made by the House of Representatives. "We would definitely recommend the top four, but as the president said, we have a moral obligation to monitor the selection in the House," he said.
The president had received the names of the candidates and the state secretary would send the names to the House today, said Julian Aldrin Pasha, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Aziz Syamsuddin, deputy chairman of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs and is in charge of the selection process, said it was still possible for lawmakers to reject the eight names submitted by the selection committee.
"We had earlier demanded the government submit 10 names to us. If they finally submit only eight names, we might reject it and ask for additional names," the Golkar Party lawmaker said.
Currently, he said, the commission members were divided on whether to seek names not already on the list. "We will hold a meeting soon to talk about it. If we cannot agree, we will decide through a vote," Aziz said.
Democratic Party lawmaker Pieter Zulkifli urged all parties to avoid politicizing the selection process. "I hope none of us in the House threaten the candidates or that candidates feel they will not be selected if they do not bow down to the lawmakers," Pieter said.
There has been speculation that corrupt lawmakers and officials have been trying to sabotage the selection process, particularly during the final stage, which involves the House. There also have been suggestions that some members of Commission III would veto candidates that they considered too close to the government.
Tama Satrya Langkun, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said his organization was not satisfied with the eight candidates selected. The committee, he said, should have selected those with high integrity to avoid political meddling from House members.
"We all know that when the selection of the leaders of an institution enters the House, it is hard to control because it will be a political process. Good candidates have been rejected by the House," he said, adding that ICW questioned the integrity of Zulkarnain and Aryanto.
Tama said Aryanto and Zulkarnain had not been transparent in reporting their wealth. Aryanto admitted to accepting illicit gratuities and said there was nothing wrong with police officials having large bank accounts.
Abdullah told reporters on Thursday that he was ready to face a fit-and-proper test at the House and believed the committee had chosen people suited to running the KPK.
"With the current candidates, you can already pick the best four people with your eyes closed. But I fear the committee is in a quandary about whether to include certain people from certain institutions in the final list," he said.