Ezra Sihite – A House of Representatives member confirmed that some of her peers were trying to strip the Corruption Eradication Commission of its wiretapping power, and a recent meeting with the agency's former investigators were just the beginning.

"There are some who wish to strip the wiretapping rights and so forth," said Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Eva Kusuma Sundari on Tuesday. She didn't identify those lawmakers.

The anticorruption body, known as KPK, has arrested and jailed dozens of current and former lawmakers in a string of cases involving the House, which is listed by Transparency International Indonesia as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.

While arguing that they support the anticorruption drive, several lawmakers have secretly tried to curb the KPK's wiretapping power by requiring a court order. They are also trying to strip the KPK from its prosecution power. Some lawmakers have even called for the disbanding of the organization itself.

Last week, the House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, recalled several police investigators who had been assigned to the KPK. Lawmakers reportedly expressed interest in the KPK's wiretapping procedures during the closed-door meetings which included internal rifts between its leaders.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch said the move "is highly suspicious."

"There are a lot of corruption cases that are first unraveled by wiretapping, so the system works. Why change it?" he said on Tuesday. "Both of these institutions [Police and House of Representatives] are constantly targeted by the KPK."

"I don't believe their intention is to fix the KPK. Let's face it, the system inside the police is appalling so why don't the lawmakers concentrate on fixing the [police] first?"

Relations between the KPK and the police have deteriorated ever since the KPK began investigating a major corruption scandal involving the police's procurement of driving simulators. The antigraft body has since named two police generals as suspects.

In what many believe to be an attempt to weaken the agency, police recalled 20 of its investigators on loan to the KPK and threatened to charge one officer with a criminal offense after he refused to comply.

Eva, however, agreed that a court order is needed to regulate the KPK's wiretapping power but argued that it should be clearly defined in its standard operating procedures instead of through amending the KPK law as some lawmakers suggest.

But ICW's Emerson argued the judiciary's commitment in fighting graft with some judges already prosecuted and jailed for accepting bribery. Requiring the KPK to secure a court order, he said, would make the information prone to leakage.

People's Conscience Party (Hanura) lawmaker Sarifuddin Suding said the House is also keen on learning KPK's procedures in naming a corruption suspect.

Two former KPK investigators recently reassigned to the National Police, Comr. Hendy F. Kurniawan and Adj. Sr. Comr. Yudiawan, were present at the closed-door hearing and divulged their criticism towards KPK chairman Abraham Samad, whom they said was not professional.

"I resigned [from the KPK] not because of the simulator [case]," Hendy said. "Abraham tried to fire me from the KPK... because of the Miranda Goeltom investigation."

Hendy said his team had not found enough evidence that the former Bank Indonesia executive bribed lawmakers in exchange for supporting her bid to secure the central bank post in 2004. "But Samad announced to the media that Miranda had been named a suspect," he said.