The mudslinging between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra poses yet another test for the government's graft fight.
At the same time, the anti-corruption body is facing a moment of truth to prove that its work is genuine and free from political motives.
Yusril was appointed to the Cabinet after supporting Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the 2004 presidential campaign, despite his position as the justice and human rights minister under then President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Yusril's Crescent Star Party was among three minor parties – along with the Democrat Party and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party – that nominated Yudhoyono as president and Jusuf Kalla as vice president.
The public has been carefully watching the commission's investigation into the 2002 procurement of a Rp 18.4 billion (US$2.04 million) Automatic Fingerprint Identification System by the Yusril-led Justice Ministry. Unfortunately, with Yusril and the graft commission trading barbs, the case involving the state secretary has taken on the appearance of a political struggle.
Shortly after being questioned as a witness in connection with the alleged inflation of the purchase price of the system, Yusril pressed a graft charge against KPK chairman Taufiequrrahman Ruki for allegedly failing to hold an open tender for the procurement of wiretapping equipment worth Rp 34 billion, as required by a 2003 presidential decree on government procurements.
It is interesting to note, however, that Yusril, as the state secretary, signed the letter from the President giving the KPK approval to directly appoint the company that procured the equipment in 2005.
The graft body insists the fingerprint identification system project violated the same presidential decree, and caused Rp 6 billion in state losses, which Yusril has denied.
In firing back at the commission, Yusril, himself a lawyer, has referred to the same laws used by the KPK to make him undergo questioning, which to many people had the appearance of a trial. In fact, many active and retired officials have played a waiting game to try and distract graft investigators from their cases, or simply to show them who holds the real power.
There is a good possibility this current tussle will lead to the corruption case involving the Justice Ministry being dropped or simply forgotten.
Nobody but President Yudhoyono is capable of putting an end to the open conflict between the KPK and Yusril, given the fact that the President directly oversees both parties. To the domestic and international communities, the dispute simply highlights a fissure within the Yudhoyono administration and the President's failure to address this problem will raise more doubts about his managerial competence.
Yudhoyono needs to clarify the graft allegations against the KPK, a body which to this point has provided a ray of hope that corruption in Indonesia can be curbed. But more importantly, the President has to order the KPK to go ahead with its investigation into the graft case involving the Justice Ministry and Yusril, given his promise to start the war on corruption from his office. He has also vowed not to protect government officials implicated in corruption cases, and so far he has lived up to this promise by issuing permits for investigations into dozens of governors, regents and councilors.
This does not mean the graft body can play down the corruption allegation raised by Yusril, but it should maintain its focus on the high-profile case at the Justice Ministry and pursue the investigation of the KPK chairman later.
On top of that, the President must prove accusations the current anti-corruption drive is specifically targeting government officials under his predecessor Megawati are false.
Yusril is not the only former Megawati official to be investigated by the graft body. Former minister of religious affairs Said Agil Al Munawar was sentenced to five years in jail in February last year for graft, and former fisheries minister Rokhmin Dahuri is standing trial for allegedly collecting levies for his personal use. KPK deputy chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas has denied a selective crackdown, saying the anti-graft body would investigate anyone if it had solid evidence of wrongdoing.
President Yudhoyono needs to convince the public that only the entire nation, not him or any other party, can win the war on corruption.