Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Nine out of 76 candidates in the running to become Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) members for the 2024-2029 period are politicians from political parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition Plus (KIM Plus) supporting president-elect Prabowo Subianto.
The final decision on the new BPK members will be made later in September and will be sealed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, whose term will end in less than two months.
The nine candidates are Muhammad Misbakhun and Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi from the Golkar Party, Hendrik Halomoan Sitompul and Wahyu Sanjaya from the Democratic Party, Mulfachri Harahap and Jon Erizal from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Eva Yuliana and Hasbi Anshori from the NasDem Party and lastly Fathan Subchi from the National Awakening Party (PKB). Three of the nine candidates are included among the list of 10 candidates selected by the Regional Representative Council (DPD). They are Misbakhun, Jon Erizal and Hasbi Anshory.
The 10 candidates selected by DPD, however, will not automatically go to the next round of selection in the House of Representatives. House Commission XI on finance will conduct its own interview of the candidates on Sept. 4, and will select five of them later in September and send the names to President Jokowi.
The BPK is led by nine members, selected by the House. Five out of the current nine BPK members have backgrounds from political parties, and they are the ones who have made headlines because of misconduct. They have been implicated in cases involving corruption, bribery and sales of audit results, damaging the BPK's reputation and undermining public trust to the institution.
The most recent corruption cases involve BPK Member VI Pius Lustrilanang and BPK Member III Achsanul Qosasi. Pius, a former Gerindra Party member, was involved in the buying and selling of audits by BPK officials in Sorong regency, Southwest Papua. Pius is currently a witness in the case, which is still ongoing.
Achsanul, a former member of the Democratic Party on the other hand, was accused of receiving a bribe of Rp 40 billion (US$2.6 million) in a 4G BTS project that caused Rp 8 trillion in state losses. The Jakarta Corruption Court found Achsanul guilty of receiving Rp 40 billion in bribes but sentenced him to only 2.5 years in prison.
The light sentence for Achsanul drew protests from civil society organizations. They argued that the sentence for a BPK member should be heavier than those under their supervision, such as an auditor. Back in 2018, BPK auditor Ali Sadli was sentenced to six years in prison and was ordered to pay a fine of Rp 250 million for accepting Rp 250 million in bribes and Rp 8.7 billion in gratuities.
Civil society organizations have been pushing the House to eliminate candidates affiliated with political parties. However, the demand may hit the wall as political parties in the House have an interest in putting their colleagues in the BPK to protect them.
What we've heard
Several sources have stated that the selection process for choosing new members of the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) is merely a formality.
It is said that Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) already had a list of candidates prepared long before the fit and proper test was scheduled. Reportedly, they have also already agreed on these names.
One of the likely candidates is Daniel Lumban Tobing, who currently serves as BPK's Member II. Daniel is supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and several other parties.
Daniel's name was previously mentioned during the trial concerning the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road project. In this project, Waskita Karya allegedly gave Rp 10 billion to obtain an unqualified opinion (WTP). As one of the BPK leaders, Daniel was reportedly among those who benefited from this money.
Meanwhile, Golkar, which initially supported Mukhamad Misbakhun, has recently shifted its support to Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi. Even though Misbakhun's name was among the top ten proposed by the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Golkar and several other parties, including Gerindra, now prefer to replace him with Bobby.
When Golkar was under the leadership of Airlangga Hartarto, Misbakhun was expected to become a BPK member. However, since Airlangga is no longer in Golkar, Misbakhun's chances as a BPK candidate have dwindled.
Another source added that there is suspected political bartering between Golkar and Gerindra to secure Bobby's position. The goal is to remove Sugiono, a Gerindra politician, from the audit of the corruption case involving the procurement of base transceiver stations (BTS) at the Communication and Information Ministry.
Sugiono's name emerged during the trial after two suspects in the BTS case admitted to sending Rp 70 billion to Nistra Yohan, Sugiono's expert staff member.
In addition to Bobby and Daniel, other strong candidates mentioned include Budi Prijono, formerly the Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense), Fathan from the National Awakening Party (PKB), and Wahyu Sanjaya from the Democratic Party.
The presence of many politicians in the BPK is closely linked to the selection process involving the DPR. One BPK member candidate mentioned that the selection process did not involve a selection committee at all, only presentations in front of the DPD and Commission XI of the DPR.
"The announcement of the open bidding process for BPK members was deliberately not publicized. Preparing the necessary requirements was done in a rush," said one of the BPK member candidates. Attempts to revise the BPK Law have always stalled in the DPR.
[This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesia's political and business landscape.]