Jakarta – The government and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) came under fire Wednesday from legislators, legal experts and observers for their failures in the battle against corruption.

Legislator Taufiqurrahman Saleh of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Sulton Huda of the Muslim organization Nahdhatul Ulama and Ismet Hassan Putro, head of the Professional Civil Society, agreed during a discussion on corruption Wednesday the government lacked the political will to fulfill its commitment to eradicate graft.

At the discussion, also attended by lawyer Lukarni and advocate Indra Sahnun Lubis, the panel of speakers criticized the institutions responsible for fighting corruption, including the KPK, for being selective in which cases they chose to pursue. The Attorney General's Office also was faulted for its lack of progress in prosecuting corruption cases.

Sulton of Nahdhatul Ulama said the government had failed to demonstrate it was serious about stamping out graft. He said the government's campaign was "only small talk, it's only on the surface".

Ismet Hassan Putro also said the antigraft campaign had yet to progress beyond the point of talk. "The fight against corruption is still only Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's personal pledge, and has yet to be implemented as government policy," he said.

He noted the presidential palace itself was not corruption-free, pointing to the recent scandal surrounding letters allegedly issued by Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi about the renovation of the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul.

Ismet said there was a lack of coordination between the President's promises and the actions of the legal authorities.

Separately, President Yudhoyono, speaking from Cambodia on Wednesday, was quoted by Antara as saying improvements were needed in the battle against graft. He said stamping out corruption was both a priority and official policy.

At the discussion on corruption, Ismet said the Corruption Eradication Commission continued to shy away from big graft cases. "The KPK is picky about the cases it deals with," he said. He pointed out that of about 9,000 reports filed on possible graft, no cases of corruption, collusion and nepotism had emerged from the Attorney General's Office, the police or state companies.

In addition to these three institutions singled out by Ismet, the commission also has never looked into possible corruption cases involving the military or the presidential palace during its two years of operation.

Separately, Indonesia Corruption Watch chief Teten Masduki told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the KPK was not living up to its role as the "superbody" of corruption eradication.

According to the 2002 law under which the commission was established, one of the KPK's roles is to supervise the prosecution of corruption cases. However, the commission has yet to play this role.

Sulton said that unlike other criminal trials in which the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, corruption trials should operate under an initial assumption of guilt, as suggested by former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Legislator Taufiqurrahman said the country needed a more reliable legal framework to assist authorities in stamping out graft. He added that the battle against corruption was a daunting task. "Reform must be carried out over and over again to fight corruption."