Nivell Rayda – The government encountered its first setback in its bid to find temporary replacements for three suspended leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission, after most of the candidates refused to participate out of fear that they would meet the same fate as the suspended leaders, a lawyer involved in the matter said.
"They were not prepared to be nominated because they were afraid they could be targeted and meet the same fate as the two KPK deputy chairmen accused by police of abusing their power," said Todung Mulya Lubis, a prominent lawyer and member of the government-appointed team tasked with finding the replacements.
Todung said that seven of the 10 potential replacements that the government team approached had declined.
Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah were accused of abuse of power earlier this month in relation to requests for travel bans against two businessmen.
Critics have described the National Police's allegations as a way to oust the two deputies from the commission, known as the KPK, because they were trying to investigate National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji in connection with a major graft case related to PT Bank Century.
Under intense criticism from antigraft groups and legal experts for "criminalizing KPK procedures and authority," the police on Friday identified Chandra and Bibit as suspects in a separate bribery case.
A source familiar with the selection process told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that among those nominated were former police chief Gen. Sutanto, current deputy attorney general for intelligence, Wisnu Subroto, and former Justice Minister Marsilam Simanjuntak.
The source refused to confirm if the three were among the seven candidates who had declined the offer. The three were also not available for comment.
Febri Diyansyah, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the bribery case connected to the Bank Century matter would test the independence of the replacements.
The KPK has not identified any suspects in the Bank Century case, but has intercepted telephone conversations between Susno and tycoon Boedi Sampoerna.
In the conversations, Sampoerna reportedly offered the detective a bribe if he could arrange the return of Rp 2 trillion ($208 million) invested in Bank Century assets, which are now frozen.
The Sampoerna family was one of the biggest campaign donors behind President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bid for reelection this year.
With Antasari Azhar, the KPK chairman, also suspended for allegedly ordering the murder of a businessman, the antigraft body is now one leader short of legally being allowed to make strategic decisions.
Last Tuesday, Yudhoyono issued a regulation in lieu of law, also known as a perppu, allowing him to bypass the law on the KPK and select the replacements for the commission himself.
On Sunday, academics representing the Coalition of Civil Society said that they would file a judicial review to the Constitutional Court to challenge the perppu.
"The perppu helped to legitimize the criminalization of the KPK officials," group representative Asmara Nababan said.
"If people allow the president to issue a perppu without any limitations, the president will be able to intervene in other independent bodies for even more vague and less urgent reasons."