Pandaya, Jakarta – Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring's plan to re-regulate wiretapping should be seen as the government's renewed attempt to curtail the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) authority, which the public is jealously guarding.
Predictably, the plan has received enthusiastic support from the House of Representatives, which has seen many of its legislators jailed by the Corruption Court and which has won notoriety for its never-ending attempts to weaken the KPK.
Tifatul, from the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which is part of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's coalition, came up with the plan only a few days after his idea to ban live courtroom broadcasts was shot down.
In a hearing Monday with House Commission I, which oversees communications and security affairs, Tifatul said a draft government regulation due in six months would give the wiretapping authority to his ministry.
He cited countries such as Australia and South Korea for his legislation models, both of which have adopted laws that give the full authority to wiretap to their respective communications ministries.
"So the police, prosecutors, the KPK and the BIN (State intelligence Agency) would have to obtain (the ministry's) permission to conduct wiretaps, and a court would issue the ruling," Tifatul said.
As in the case when he tested the water with his plan to ban live courtroom broadcasts, he claimed he came up with the idea after receiving overwhelming public input about how bugging operations should be regulated.
"We should bid farewell to the days when everybody has the authority to wiretap everybody else, because to communicate is a human right, so this has to be regulated," he said.
Support came not only the obvious ruling Democratic Party legislators, but also from such "opposition" parties as Gerindra.
Legislator Ramadhan Pohan, from the Democratic Party, said even in the United States wiretapping was tightly regulated, following then president Richard Nixon's downfall, precluded by the Watergate wiretaps. "Here in Indonesia, wiretapping seems like an everyday routine," he said.
It's hard to deny that the plan was inspired by the KPK's highly effective use of wiretapped conversations between high-level conspirators to uncover high-profile graft cases. Public disclosure of the recordings has angered the many people mentioned or implicated in the cases.
In the most recent instance, the Constitutional Court permitted the KPK to play back recordings pointing to and alleged conspiracy hatched between businessman Anggodo Widjojo and high-ranking individuals from the National Police and Attorney General's Office to criminalize KPK leaders.
The playback was broadcast live by local TV stations, allowing the public to see just how these "mafiosi" control the police and prosecutors.
Last year, senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan was caught red-handed by KPK investigators taking a bribe from "case broker" Arthalita Suryani, a confidante of fugitive tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, who is embroiled in a multi-trillion-rupiah Bank Indonesia liquidity assistance scam.
Tifatul's plan has raised questions about the legal basis he will use to draft the regulation. No laws give the Information and Communications Ministry the authority to bug or coordinate wiretapping operations.
The 2002 Corruption Eradication Commission Law grants this authority to the KPK without the need for a court-issued warrant, as part of its privilege as an institution with extraordinary powers.
The law on electronic transactions also stipulates the authority to wiretap lies with law enforcement institutions.
Tifatul is making the maneuver at a time when public suspicion still points toward a grand conspiracy to weaken the KPK, which, despite all its shortcomings, has won international accolades for its courage to target thieves in high places.
The recent strife between the KPK and the police, allied with the AGO, has only augmented public support for the antigraft commission.
Tifatul's attempt to snatch the wiretapping power from law enforcers is only adding fuel to the fire that is consuming public trust in the Yudhoyono administration's commitment to fighting corruption and judicial corruption.