Jakarta – Former commissioner of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Bambang Widjojanto has criticized the government for its lack of awareness and understanding of the articles of the KPK law set to be revised by the House of Representatives.

"If the revision is in the Prolegnas [National Legislation Program], but the President had not received the revision bill, then that is just ignorance," said Bambang as reported by kompas.com on Tuesday in response to a statement made by presidential spokesman Johan Budi.

The government should know which parts of the articles of the KPK law are to be revised, said Bambang, adding that any bill that had been included in the Prolegnas should be understood by the government, including the President.

Johan said previously that the President had not received the revision bill of Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK.

"It is not clear which part of the revision would weaken the KPK and which part would strengthen it. The latest stance of the President is that the revision should be implemented to strengthen the KPK," Johan said on Monday, adding that Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H Laoly knew more about the revision.

Bambang said an academic paper was needed as a reference for both the government and for lawmakers about which parts of the law needed to be revised.

"If a revision is held without an academic paper, it is procedurally invalid. The question is why are they in a hurry? What is the objective of the revision, to strengthen or weaken the KPK?" he added.

The House needed to give civil society groups wider access to the revision process, said Bambang, arguing that any bill that had been included in the Prolegnas should be be open to public consultation.

Bambang argued that the President should immediately ascertain which parts of the law needed to be revised so that the government could take a stance that would be acceptable to the public. "If Johan [Budi] has no access to the bill, how can we, the general public, know about it?" he asked. (bbn)(+)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/09/govt-na-ve-about-KPK-law-revision-bambang.html