Jakarta – The newly submitted corruption bill could derail the war against corruption by undermining the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), antigraft activists warned Tuesday.
"We saw the bill had so many flaws, right from the moment we obtained a copy," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Febri Diansyah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
"That bill, if passed into law, will endanger corruption eradication efforts and the KPK as well. The punishment it recommends, for instance, is very weak," he went on. It gives no minimum punishment for violators, and makes it possible for whistle-blowers to face criminal charges."
Febri added the bill would conflict with the KPK law, which already details punishment for violators. "If the bill is made law, it will cause a havoc within the justice system," he said.
The bill was submitted by the government to the House of Representatives this month, while the current House legislators' term will end in September.
Febri said the time constraint had put the House in a weak position, with legislators busy deliberating another bill on the corruption court.
"There is a danger the House will pass the flawed bill into law, due to bickering between the government and legislators," he said.
"However, ICW will continue to tightly monitor both the House and the government. We do not want a repeat of the fiasco surrounding the Supreme Court bill, which was passed into law very quickly despite substantial flaws in its content."
Febri also called on legislators not to use the corruption bill as an excuse should they fail to pass the corruption court bill into law by the end of their term.
A 2006 ruling by the Constitutional Court stipulated the establishment of the Corruption Court, based on the KPK law, had violated the Constitution because it was not based on the judiciary law.
The Constitutional Court ruled a proper legal basis for the Corruption Court must be passed by December 2009, or the latter would have to be dissolved.
"The House must pass the corruption court bill as soon as possible, without excuse," Febri said. "That bill and the corruption bill have no direct link, so for legislators to say they can't pass the one without deliberating the other is hogwash."
The Golkar Party's Dewi Asmara, chairwoman of the special committee deliberating the corruption court bill, said recently the government's sudden submission of the corruption bill had forced the committee to study both bills in tandem.
Transparency International Indonesia (TII) secretary-general Teten Masduki said it boggled the mind why the government had chosen to submit a new bill to the House just two months before its term ended.
"Maybe President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to emphasize his graft-fighting credentials," he said.
"If the House fails to pass the corruption court bill into law, Yudhoyono will have to issue a regulation-in-lieu-of-law. This will definitely surely boost his image as the person leading the fight against corruption. He'll get all the credit." (hdt)