Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – Anti-graft activists have expressed their support for the Corruption Eradication Commission's plan to establish branches in several cities across Indonesia, saying these additional offices would help KPK's headquarters in Jakarta handle the illegal dealings of regional officials.
Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra)'s coordinator Ucok Khadafi said branches of the Corruption Eradication Commission, known as KPK, will assist the attorney general's office (AGO) in its prosecutions.
"The aim of these supporting offices would be to assist the AGO in handling corrupted regional officials," Ucok said on Wednesday, adding that the AGO has always been reluctant to pursue active regional chiefs over graft allegations.
"We believe they will also be very helpful with money laundering cases. With their help, corruptors could face more serious charges with higher maximum penalties," Ucok said. "The branch should function more on eradicating corruption [everywhere] not just in Jakarta."
However, Indonesia Corruption Watch's Aradila Caesar doubted the plan would be effective, saying the anti-graft body would struggle with finding the right staff members to fill these branches.
"We [ICW] do appreciate the plan. However, hiring suitable candidates to manage a KPK office would not be as easy as recruiting common civil servants."
"Even the Jakarta headquarters is struggling to recruit officers who have the suitable professional background, integrity and drive to investigate corrupt government officials," Aradila said on Friday.
"Should the plan be implemented, the regional KPK must only function as a supervising and monitoring agency to strengthen the AGO and to provide information for the central office.
"This is to prevent overlapping roles between the two institutions. But, once again, the challenge lies in member recruitment. It won't be easy," the ICW representative added.
Ucok agreed the professional criteria required to fill a KPK office is tight. "Anyone who even thinks of joining [the anti-graft commission] must have high integrity, have a stellar reputation at their previous posts and be ready for the long hours the job entails," Ucok added.
However, House of Representatives deputy speaker Fadli Zon took a stance against the plan, arguing that the creation of any new offices would only burden the state budget.
"The budget is stretched enough as it is. [The KPK] shouldn't make it worse," Fadli said on Thursday. "The government needs to instead concentrate on strengthening its police force and judicial system."
In response to fears that the plan would only strain the state financially, Ucok explained the budget could be covered by funds confiscated from corrupt officials. The KPK had made similar efforts in 2012, approaching the House with a request to build regional branches, but was shut down.
As of February 2014, of the 524 regional chiefs serving across the country, 318 have allegedly committed some form of corruption, according to the Home Affairs Ministry. With such alarming figures, cabinet secretary Andi Widjajanto pledged to support the KPK's plans, saying the strategy would allow the body to better perform it's duties in combating corruption.
"If the KPK sees the need [to open local branch offices] in order to strengthen its function in the fight against corruption, then I think the government should have no objections," Andi said.
Andi's comments lend further weight to the view that President Joko Widodo will give his full backing to the plan. "During the presidential campaign, [Joko] signed an anti-corruption agenda for 2014-2019, which supports the KPK," Andi continued.
However, Fadli's staunch disapproval may influence the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) – an integral ally of the opposition Red-White Coalition – to reject the plan. "Would the [state losses] recovered by the KPK justify a budget increase?" Fadli questioned.
Meanwhile, Aziz Syamsuddin, chairman of the House Commission III that oversees legal affairs, said he supports the plan as long as the KPK "can work together with [local] police and prosecutors."
His statement seems to suggest that the KPK should only limit itself to a supporting role for the two law enforcement bodies, which along with the House, have long been dubbed as some of the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia by anti-graft watchdogs.
Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/govt-will-support-kpk-local-offices-cabinet-secretary/