Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – An alliance of several NGOs has asked the President to order the selection team for the country's anti-corruption body to review their candidates, especially those with law enforcement backgrounds vying for leadership.
The NGO alliance, known as the Coalition for Justice Monitoring, said Tuesday it recently sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono demanding a reassessment of the 10 candidates standing for leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Coalition representative Adnan Topan Husodo said they wanted police officers and government prosecutors to be excluded from the list to avoid KPK's subjectivity in handling graft cases involving law enforcers.
The selection team has submitted 10 candidates for anti-corruption commission leadership to the President.
They would then be forwarded to the House of Representatives' Commission III, which would conduct a 'fit-and-proper' test to pick five candidates to fill the KPK executive positions for the 2008-2011 period.
Of the 10 candidates, three have law enforcement backgrounds including the head of the National Police chief's expert staff Maj. Gen. (ret) Bibit Samad Rianto, former assistant for special crimes investigation to the chief of the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office Marwan Effendy and director of prosecution for general crimes at the Attorney General's Office Antasari Azhar.
Adnan, of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said, "We want the President to order the selection team to omit the three persons from the list due to their law enforcement background". "Besides, they do not have an outstanding performance that makes them fit for the position."
He said the fit-and-proper test mechanism in the House would be more of a process influenced by political deals, rather than a transparent and accountable selection.
"Therefore, the President should ask the selection team to review the current candidates and find other competent candidates with proven track records," Adnan said.
Danang Widoyoko, also from ICW, said the coalition had strong reasons for omitting law enforcers from the KPK leadership.
"First, the selection team applies a quota mechanism that makes police and prosecutors inseparable components in KPK," Danang said. "This mechanism can lead to subjectivity and an irresponsible selection process. Besides, there is no legal requirement to include police and prosecutors in the body. The 2002 law on KPK does not oblige it. This means that the quota mechanism has violated the law."
Danang said the coalition had also learned from the recent arrest of Judicial Commission (KY) member Irawady Joenoes on bribery allegations. "The Irawady case indicates there's a lack of integrity among KY members, and we don't want this to happen to the KPK," Danang said.
The coalition said the election process could be easily extended and that the KPK could extend the period of its current leadership until new candidates were selected.