Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – Anti-graft activists are calling on the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) commissioner selection committee to take a stronger stance and eliminate problematic candidates from the shortlist, including two incumbent KPK commissioners who have been hit with allegations of ethics violations.
The selection committee announced on Thursday that 40 commissioner candidates had passed the written test held late last month; 17 percent of the 236 candidates who passed the administrative selection. Meanwhile, the total applicants for this year's selection amounted to 318 individuals, down from the 376 people in the 2019 selection round.
The 40 candidates, who will be subjected to a profile assessment at the end of this month, include Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Johan Budi, academic Yanuar Nugroho, National Police Commission (Kompolnas) member Poengky Indarti and former minister Sudirman Said.
Apart from that, the list also includes controversial figures like KPK commissioners Johanis Tanak and Nurul Ghufron, both of whom have faced ethics probes from the KPK Supervisory Board (Dewas KPK) for alleged ethics violations.
Johanis faced a probe from the Dewas KPK for communicating in May with a staff member of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry – which was under KPK investigation at the time – but was cleared in a hearing in September.
Nurul, on the other hand, stands accused of an ethics breach involving staff transfers at the Agriculture Ministry. Dewas KPK was on the verge of announcing the results of its investigation but was forced to delay it as Nurul successfully lodged a complaint against the board at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).