Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Rizky Amelia – The Corruption Eradication Commission has received some unlikely support for its plan to expand its office on Monday: the backing of the country's 54 million impoverished food vendors and hawkers.
Members of the Indonesian Food Hawkers Association (PPKLI) flocked to the office of the antigraft agency known as the KPK on Monday to hand over Rp 1 million ($106) in contributions and a letter of support for the country's most respected law enforcement institution.
"As citizens we have to show our support for the KPK," said PPKLI coordinator Junaedi Sitorus. "We're not looking for fame. We don't care about politics. We have little money, but at least it's legitimate."
He added that the PPKLI's 54 million members would contribute Rp 1,000 each over the next three days to help the KPK reach the figure of Rp 225 billion that it needs to build a new office.
Growing pains
There's just one problem: it might not be entirely legal. KPK adviser Abdullah Hehamahua says that by law, the antigraft body is not allowed to take money from non-government sources. "We cannot accept or manage the money. It goes against the state management system," he said.
The KPK has been seeking approval for the construction project from House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, arguing that its current office building can no longer house all 700 KPK employees. The lack of space has forced it to rent space at the nearby Ombudsman Commission building and at the State Secretariat office.
The current building on Jalan Rasuna Said in South Jakarta used to be owned by the now-defunct Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency, and has been leased out to the KPK by the Finance Ministry.
Bambang Widjojanto, a KPK deputy chairman, said the commission has obtained an 8,000-square-meter plot of land behind the current building, where it plans to build the new extension.
Johan Budi, a KPK spokesman, said the commission needs to expand and recruit more staff to handle more cases. "The KPK only has 700 officials serving some 200 million people in Indonesia," he says, pointing out that Malaysia's Anti-Corruption Commission has 3,000 officials for a country of just 28 million.
But the House has criticized the plan, saying the new building is not an urgent priority, despite the KPK already getting the backing of the Finance Ministry. The House also claimed that the project goes against calls by the government for all state agencies to cut costs.
Payback
Analysts, however, accused the House of flagrant hypocrisy. Last year, the House proposed a hefty Rp 1.13 trillion budget to construct a new building for itself, replete with a spa and recreation center. A massive public outcry eventually forced it to scrap the project.
"They are being hypocritical," said University of Indonesia political analyst Arbi Sanit. "The House has been wasting the state budget with its overseas tips. If House Commission III rejects [the KPK's request], it's effectively supporting corruption."
Uchok Sky Khadafi, investigations and advocacy coordinator at the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said the opposition to the request was no surprise.
"The legislators are just showing their arrogance through the authority they have over the budget," he said. "They want to control the KPK through the budget."
He claimed that the House was taking the opportunity to get revenge on the KPK for its arrest of dozens of legislators in graft cases over the years. Since it was established in 2003, the KPK has arrested 44 former and serving House members.
Other options
But legislators have played down allegations of ulterior motives for rejecting the KPK's funding request. Drajad Wibowo, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), pointed out that the House did not get the new building it wanted, so the KPK's case was not unique.
Nasir Jamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said that other law enforcement agencies, such as the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), had also applied for building funds, but their requests had not yet been approved.
"Of course, we will give due consideration to all these requests," he said recently. "We don't want to appear to be discriminatory by approving the KPK's request and rejecting the others."
On Monday, House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung said the House leaders would facilitate a meeting between the KPK and Commission III to discuss the funding request. "Personally, I don't mind. I would give my own money toward the new building if I had to," he said.