A deliberation of the KPK Law revision is feared to be legally flawed, because it is not included in the 2019 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Following the smooth process to approve a proposed revision of Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK at the House of Representatives (DPR) plenary meeting on Thursday (5/9/2019), the hopes of the public for stopping a revision that could weaken the KPK are now in the hands of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The President was asked not to send a presidential letter to the DPR for the deliberation of changes to the KPK Law.
At its plenary meeting, the DPR unanimously approved a revision of the KPK Law to make it a DPR initiative bill. The decision was made within just five minutes. There was no interruption or rejection from any DPR member. Opinions of each faction, that would normally be read out, were this time only submitted to the DPR leadership in writing.
The bill includes several proposed changes considered to weaken corruption eradication efforts, such as allowing the KPK to stop the investigation of a case, forming a KPK Supervisory Board, and requiring the KPK to seek permission from that board for wiretapping.
President Jokowi said he did not yet know the content of the proposal for the KPK Law revision, so he could not take any stance. "That was an initiative of the DPR. I do not know the content. What is clear is that the KPK is currently working well. I don\'t know yet, so I can\'t say anything yet," said the President in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
Proposal may be legally flawed
The KPK Law revision proposal that appeared so suddenly is, in fact, an old "product" rehashed by the DPR. As Kompas reported, when the DPR and the President decided to postpone the revision of the 2016 KPK Law, the DPR and the government agreed to take the proposal out of the National Legislation Program. The proposal to revise the KPK Law also did not enter the Prolegnas in 2017, 2018 or 2019.
According to a member of the DPR Legislation Body from the PDI-P faction, Masinton Pasaribu, even though it is not included in the 2019 priority program, the revision of the KPK Law could still be proposed, discussed and approved, because, according to him, the revision of the KPK Law was never revoked from the 2015-2019 five-year Prolegnas list.
"No problem, what is important is that the bill is included in the 2015-2019 Prolegnas. That is just a matter of priority, which is the bill that is to be prioritized for this year," he said.
Meanwhile, there should be agreement to add a bill to the annual Prolegnas before it is discussed by the DPR and the government. Article 45 of Law No. 12/2011 on legislative regulations states that the preparation of a bill must be carried out based on the Prolegnas.
Article 23 Paragraph (2) of the same law states that, in certain circumstances, the DPR or the President can submit a bill outside of the Prolegnas. However, the requirement is that the bill is proposed to overcome extraordinary circumstances, conflicts or natural disasters. Moreover, the related bill needs to be approved jointly by the Legislation Body of the DPR and the Law and Human Rights Ministry to be discussed even though it is outside of the Prolegnas.
The current proposal to revise the KPK Law was only discussed behind closed doors in a relatively short period of time at the internal DPR Legislation Body.
Indonesian Law School Jentera Lecturer Bivitri Susanti said the discussion on the revision of the KPK Law could be legally flawed if it is further forced, because the revision is not listed in the 55 bills prioritized for discussion this year. The 55 bills are the result of an agreement between the DPR and the President, represented by the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
"The DPR should not be able to take the initiative to propose a bill to be discussed with the government if the bill is outside the Prolegnas," she said.
The President, who has the authority to reject the deliberation on the revision of the KPK Law, is expected to take a firm stance. If the President does not send a presidential letter approving the discussion of a bill, then the bill cannot be discussed.
According to a member of the Legislation Body from the United Development Party (PPP) faction, Arsul Sani, the DPR is targeting for the revision of the KPK Law to be passed before the 2014-2019 DPR term ends, effectively in the next 10 working days. He said there was a similar view in the DPR that the new KPK leadership, which is to be elected in the near future, could work under the revised law.
A Nasdem Party faction member of the DPR Legislation Body, Taufiqulhadi, said similarly: "Even within one hour it can be finished if its discussion is accelerated. It depends on when we sit together," he said.
President expected to reject motion
The former general chairman of Muhammadiyah, Syafii Maarif, said he expected President Jokowi to save the KPK, which had thus far maintained its independence and integrity in eradicating corruption. Syafii was of the opinion that efforts to weaken the KPK were a setback for the political culture.
Catholic Priest Franz-Magnis Suseno asked the President to listen to the voice of the people and prove his commitment to eradicating corruption. "If the KPK is weakened, it is a form of betrayal of the people. This will give a bad impression of democracy in this country," Magnis said.
The chairman of the Institute for Human Resource Research and Development of Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board, Rumadi Ahmad, expressed hope that the President would not be led by the DPR\'s intention to revise the KPK Law.
At the KPK building, KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo and deputy chairman Saut Situmorang expressed opposition to the proposed revision. They said it could cripple the KPK\'s function and hoped President Jokowi was willing to save the KPK. The KPK leadership intended to write to President Jokowi so that the President would reject the draft for changing the KPK Law. "The KPK believes that the President will [live up to] his statements that he will not weaken the KPK," Agus said.
Moreover, said Agus, a comprehensive discussion with academics, the community and the KPK needed to be carried out to determine the need for revising the KPK Law.