Sultan Abdurrahman, M. Faiz Zaki, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Agus Sunaryanto called on President Joko Widodo alias Jokowi to take responsibility for the destruction of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) during his term of office.

This statement came after the Jakarta Police on Wednesday, Nov. 22, named the anti-graft agency's chairman Firli Bahuri as a suspect for allegedly accepting a bribe from former Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL).

"Jokowi must take responsibility for the damage in the KPK during his reign," Agus told Tempo via a short message on Thursday, November 23. He emphasized that the naming of Firli Bahuri as a suspect was a clear indication of the KPK's declining reputation.

According to Agus, the damage was done because the KPK often disregarded public participation. For example, the KPK refused to listen to criticism of Firli's poor track record before his appointment in 2019.

"So neither the government nor the DPR (House of Representatives) seemed to care about Firli's poor track record, and what mattered to them was that he could be controlled," Agus said.

Agus also opined that the KPK's selection committee (Pansel) and the DPR's Commission III were responsible for Firli's appointment.

Agus believed that the President and the government would probably remain indifferent to the destruction of the KPK, and some legislators might even be happy about this shameful situation because they had been calling for the dissolution of the KPK for a long time.

"The President may cool down as well as long as it does not disrupt infrastructure projects and economic stability," Agus added.

Therefore, ICW demanded that President Jokowi take immediate responsibility. "One of the ways is to deactivate Firli," he said.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1800758/icw-calls-on-jokowi-to-take-responsibility-for-kpk-destructio