Equalize Perceptions about the KPK

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators display Rp 110 million in cash at a press conference on the results of a sting operation on bribery allegations related to a waterway project in Yogyakarta at the KPK building in South Jakarta on Aug. 20. (20/8/2019).

The polemic over 75 employees of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who did not pass the civic knowledge test continues. Now, they have been asked to relinquish their duties and responsibilities.

The civic knowledge test is a follow-up to Law No. 19/2019 on the KPK, which mandates that the commission is part of the executive group. Consequently, KPK employees must become state civil servants or ASN. This rule was then translated to Government Regulation (PP) Number 41 of 2020 on the Transfer of KPK Employees to ASN.

Article 3 of the PP states that one of the conditions for the change to ASN is that it must be loyal and obedient to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), and the legitimate government. Furthermore, in Article 5 Paragraph 4 of the KPK Regulation No. 1/2021 on Procedures for the Transfer of Status of KPK Employees to ASN, it is stated that in order to fulfill the requirements of being loyal and obedient to Pancasila, UUD 1945, NKRI, and the legitimate government, a civic knowledge test is carried out. In total 1,349 KPK employees took the test.

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The KPK operates with a system and cannot be identified with individuals. The system is built to enable the KPK to work professionally and its employees do not have other interests, such as politics, when eradicating corruption.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

An activist from the Coalition of Anticorruption Civil Society shows a document after reporting Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly obstructing an investigation into a bribery case that has implicated Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Harun Masiku at the KPK building in Jakarta on Thursday (23/1/2020). Yasonna allegedly gave false information by saying Harun was overseas. His statement contradicted information from the immigration office that Harun has been in the country since Jan. 7.

This system is also built to ensure that the KPK complies with the provisions in the republic, such as the Constitutional Court ruling, which states that in changing the status of the KPK employees to ASN, no KPK employees should be harmed.

The follow-up to the failure of 75 KPK employees in the civic knowledge test is part of the examination of the system at the KPK. There are still other tests, such as the existence of evidence that was stolen, seizure operations that were suspected to have leaked, and the presence of KPK investigators who were suspected of extortion.

Political will from outside, such as the government, is badly needed. Moreover, the KPK is part of the executive group.

Maintaining the system in the KPK, now, cannot only be done internally by the commission. Political will from outside, such as the government, is badly needed. Moreover, the KPK is part of the executive group.

Ironically, there are different perceptions among the political elite and the people regarding the KPK. In 2019, the political elite stated that the revision of the KPK Law was carried out to strengthen this institution. However, the people saw the opposite.

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^ Death Sentence for KPK

^ Demoralization of KPK

The people’s view continued in the Indonesian Corruption Perceptions Index (IPK) in 2020, which fell three points from 40 in 2019 to 37. Since 2008, it was only in 2020 that Indonesia\'s Corruption Perceptions Index experienced a decrease in its score.

In addition to a number of achievements such as in the infrastructure sector, it would be very encouraging if President Joko Widodo also lead the country\'s political elite to equate his perception with the people about strengthening the KPK and efforts to maintain the spirit of eradicating corruption.

HUMAS KPK

Deputy Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Alexander Marwata (center) in a press conference determining the Chairperson of the Muara Enim DPRD in the KPK\'s Red and White Building, Jakarta, Monday (27/4/2020).

While the president has three years remaining in his administration to make this happen, public satisfaction with the performance of the government, according to the results of the Kompas Research and Development Survey in April, reached 69 percent. This was an increased from January 2021, which saw a 66.3 percent satisfaction rate, and August 2020, which saw a rate of 65.9 percent.

All right, while there is still time and opportunity.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).