Alarming Signs in Law and Security

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Thousands of workers and students rally to commemorate Youth Pledge Day in the Arjuna Wijaya Horse Statue area in Jakarta on Monday (28/10/2019). They also demanded a revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law and rejected the draft Criminal Code Bill (RUU KUHP). The demonstrations took place in an orderly fashion.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The establishment of a government clean of corruption, collusion and nepotism as well as the reinforcement of the security sector have been two agenda items the public is most concerned about in the 22nd year of the Reform Era. If problems remain unresolved, they can undermine reform.

A Kompas poll involving 499 respondents in 30 provinces on May 6-9 showed that public discontent was highest in legal reform (81.6 percent), followed by discontent on reforms in politics (65.5 percent), economy (65.0 percent) and bureaucracy (64.9 percent).

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Moreover, the public sees that corruption eradication, an important indicator of law enforcement, has suffered even further since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law was revised into Law No. 19/2019. The law is deemed to have further complicated the bureaucracy of KPK’s actions. Declining sting operations since the law was approved is seen as a sign that the KPK has been weakened.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo said on Friday (22/5/2020) that he was pessimistic over the elites’ commitment of strengthening corruption eradication. Therefore, he said, people’s movement to push reforms would be necessary.

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ERIKA KURNIA UNTUK KOMPAS

ICW Coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo.

Transparency International Indonesia research and campaign manager Wawan Suyatmiko sees things differently. According to him, the solution to strengthen corruption eradication lies on the elite. He said that statesperson elites should ensure fair, transparent and accountable law enforcement amid corruption eradication efforts.

Meanwhile, Gadjah Mada University Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat UGM) chairman Oce Madril said that reinforcing the KPK was the solution for course-correcting corruption eradication efforts. Adnan said he hoped the Constitutional Court (MK) would revoke the KPK Law revision.

KPK chair Firli Bahuri said criticisms of weakening corruption eradication showed that the public cared about the KPK. Regarding the assessment that the KPK law revision led to KPK’s weakening, he said that this had been unproven so far. According to him, the KPK has more core duties while its functions and roles remain the same. Moreover, the KPK’s authority has not been reduced.

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KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for the 2019-2023 period Firli Bahuri (from left to right), KPK deputy chairman Alexander Marwata, KPK deputy chairperson Lili Pintauli Siregar, KPK deputy chairman Nawawi Pomolango and KPK deputy chairman Nurul Ghufron read out the integrity pact during the office handover from KPK 2019-2023 leaders at the KPK building, Jakarta, Friday (20/12/2019).

Security

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Yati Andriyani said she worried the involvement of active military officers and police personnel in government jobs would hamper the country’s security reform agenda. Furthermore, overdependence on the military and the police can also weaken the civilian government.

Paramadina University political science lecturer Djayadi Hanan said that in terms of the military’s non-involvement in politics, things were still on the right track.

However, he said, the National Police had yet to be completely civilian as it still had a military structure and attitude. This can be seen in the police body’s independence and position directly under the President, whereas in other countries, the police are under the Home Ministry.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Muhammad Haripin said that the military reform agenda was halted midway as the approval of Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military (TNI) was seen as the finish line of military reform.

“In fact, the law should have been seen as the start of positioning the TNI within the system of democracy,” he said.