Alfitria Nefi P, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is among the institutions affected by Prabowo's budget efficiency directive. As a result, the anti-corruption agency had to relinquish a budget of Rp201 billion due to the budget cut.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said a budget cut is one of three methods to weaken anti-corruption institutions. This conclusion was drawn from a study conducted by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), part of the European Anti-Corruption Commission, presented at an anti-corruption conference in Bangkok in 2010.
"First, changing regulations to reduce authority; second, restructuring institutions to reduce independence; and third, reducing resources or budgets," said ICW Coordinator Agus Sunaryanto when contacted on Friday, February 14, 2025, explaining the three methods of weakening.
Agus stated that budget efficiency could also impact KPK's sting operation (OTT), one of the main strategies for uncovering alleged corruption. According to Agus, OTT may still be carried out, but the speed and quantity of its implementation will decrease. The conduct of OTT also depends on the level of difficulty, human resources, and other support. "If the budget is reduced, then its support for carrying out OTT will also decrease," said Agus.
Agus suggested that KPK should engage in dialogue to address the impact of efficiency, including the weakening of corruption eradication performance. This discussion should also be carried out with parliamentary commissions to review a rational amount of efficiency.
KPK got a budget cut of Rp201 billion, from the initial budget ceiling of Rp1,237,441,326,000 or Rp1.23 trillion in 2025. KPK Deputy Chairperson Johanis Tanak revealed that budget efficiency does not significantly impact KPK's performance in law enforcement and prevention.
"Big needs, small budget, what can you do? Make policies to tighten the use of the budget, and it's normal in the government system," said Johanis Tanak when Tempo met him at his office in South Jakarta on Tuesday, February 11, 202.
Nevertheless, he did not deny that budget efficiency affects the work of KPK investigators. "It can be said it does, it does influence, or it doesn't, it doesn't. It depends on how we see it," he said.
– Annisa Febiola and Mutia Yuantisya contributed to this article.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1975377/icw-kpks-budget-cut-could-weaken-anti-corruption-operation