Jakarta – The Indonesia Corruption Watch has given President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla a score of five out of 10 for their performance after one year in office.

The watchdog based its evaluation on the pair's efforts to fight corruption, their working cabinet and the administration's commitment to the Nawa Cita campaign, which consists of nine priority programs aimed at the development of Indonesia.

One of these is specifically dedicated to battling corruption, but the ICW has seen none of its points fully realized.

"We gave them a five because there is still much work to be done in corruption eradication since [they took office] last year," said ICW researcher Lalola Easter, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.

The group sees Joko's recent move to delay deliberations on a bill that would revise the nation's laws on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a blow to the anti-graft body, making it more vulnerable to further attacks. The president should have outright rejected the revision, the ICW said.

The controversial bill would essentially weaken the KPK's ability to fight corruption, allowing it to only investigate graft cases that have incurred state losses of at least Rp 50 billion ($3.6 million). Its officials would also have to gain permission from the courts before wiretapping a potential graft suspects.

Another factor holding back Joko and Kalla's potential, Lalola said, is the constant interference of their ministers – particularly the 15 politicians who are attached to political parties and whose loyalties are at risk of being wavered by their party patrons.

The ICW therefore urged Joko and Kalla to evaluate their anti-graft programs as well as their ministers' performance. The watchdog went so far as encouraging the pair to fire cabinet members who do not support the fight against corruption.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/low-marks-for-joko-kalla-in-watchdog/