Jakarta – A member of the President's Advisory Council, Adnan Buyung Nasution, has stated his disappointment with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leader election process carried out by the Legal Commission of the House of Representatives (DPR).
He said considered that the election which finally elected Antasari Azhar as KPK Chairman was nothing more than a mockery. "It's not impossible that this was backed by, or involved a deal with, corruptors," said Buyung in Jakarta yesterday (6/12).
He said he was of the opinion that the KPK leader election was full of manipulation. This was because "(The public) warnings appeared not to have been listened to," said Buyung.
He suspected that this was related to certain political parties many of whose members are involved in corruption cases. "This is an extraordinary step back," said Buyung.
However, as a member of the President's Advisory Council, he did not yet have any recommendation as regards the KPK leader.
However, Buyung promised to watch the new KPK leader's performance in the first three months. "If there's something improper, I will demand that it (KPK) be disbanded," he said.
Two days ago the DPR Legal Commission succeeded in choosing five new KPK leaders after the fit and proper testing.
In the final vote, DPR members chose Antasari Azhar, Director of Prosecution for the Deputy Attorney General of General Criminal Acts, as the new KPK leader, replacing Taufiequrachman Ruki.
Antasari is a prosecutor who failed to jail the New Order ruler, Suharto. He was also regarded negatively when, as a prosecutor at the South Jakarta District Court, he failed to execute the imprisonment of Hutomo Mandala Putra.
Todung Mulya Lubis, Head of Transparency International Indonesia's Management Board, said he believed that the KPK leadership selection process was full of political compromises. "The input from the public were not taken into account," he said.
Todung warned that if the new KPK leader did not do his job well, then the DPR Legal Commission needed to be blamed. "For choosing an incompetent person."
Several circles were also disappointed. The Anti-Corruption Study Center at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta, for instance, raised a flag at half mast as a sign of grieving for the new KPK leader.
"Yesterday (two days ago) was a day of mourning for corruption eradication in Indonesia," said Hasrul Halili, Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Study Center of UGM.
(Rini Kustiani, Reh Atemalem, Aqida Swa Murti, Heru CN)