Bagus BT Saragih and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Once perceived as the nation's most corrupt institution, the House of Representatives has garnered a slew of condemnation from the public for lashing out at the anticorruption body, which it calls a "superbody" whose powers should be curtailed.
Noted lawyer and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said the House should have reviewed its own authority, which he said was too much and prone to abuse of power, instead of blasting the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as "undemocratic".
"I deplore recent statements made by certain legislators proposing the disbandment of the KPK because of its 'limitless' authority. Is the KPK really a superbody? I don't think so. It is the House which could more appropriately be called a superbody. With its overwhelming authority, the House can summon anybody," Todung said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Todung was referring to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Fahri Hamzah who – during a consultative meeting with leaders of the country's top law enforcement bodies on Monday – said the KPK was a superbody that was not compatible with democracy In an apparent attempt to defend his colleagues at the House's budgetary committee who had been implicated in a high-profile corruption case currently investigated by the KPK, Fahri called for the antigraft body's dissolution.
"The KPK was born of the nation's Reform movement. Killing the KPK would mean killing the spirit of reform," Todung said.
Prominent Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra echoed Todung's view. "Since the reformation era, the DPR has become a superbody that even a minister is not brave enough to face it, particularly when it comes to budget issues," he said.
Azyumardi said Fahri's statement was a sign that lawmakers were currently afraid of their misconduct and corruption practices being probed by the KPK. "The idea of disbanding the KPK is only being voiced because the KPK is probing lawmakers," he said.
A 2009 survey conducted by Transparency International Indonesia (TII) ranked the House as the most corrupt institution in the country, followed by the judiciary and political parties.
Azyumardi added that Fahri's controversial move would reflect negatively on his party's image. Other PKS politicians, however, repeatedly claimed that Fahri's statement had been a personal view and not the party's official stance.
Also on Wednesday, KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas played down lawmakers' controversial moves to undermine his commission.
"The consultative meeting on Monday was apparently not significant. That's okay, the most important thing is that we accepted the House's invitation to attend the meeting. That showed our good faith and respect towards the House. Leave it to the public to judge the result of the meeting," Busyro said.
Monday's meeting also appeared as a forum for Fahri's colleagues at the House's Commission III, overseeing law and human rights, to criticize the KPK and undermine its move to question the budgetary committee leaders, who are implicated in a bribery case pertaining to a ministry project.
Commission III chairman Benny Kabur Harman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, Tjatur Sapto Edy of the National Mandate Party, and Aziz Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party, alternately pitched questions on KPK's legal grounds for summoning the budgetary committee leaders which they said had been part of KPK's efforts to politicize the case.
On Tuesday, Benny accused the KPK of being reluctant to cooperate and work hand-in-hand with other law-enforcement institutions. He called for an evaluation of the KPK's authority and investigative mechanisms.