Pintauli Resigns with an Undisclosed Ethics Violation

KOMPAS/NORBERTUS ARYA DWIANGGA MARTIAR

Lili Pintauli Siregar

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) supervisory council dismissed Lili Pintauli Siregar’s alleged ethics-breach case and discontinued the ethics trial against her. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued Presidential Decree (Kepres) No. 71/P/2022, which stipulated Pintauli’s dismissal as the KPK’s deputy chairwoman as of 11 July 2022.

The presidential decree was issued after 30 June when Pintauli submitted her letter of resignation as deputy chairwoman of the KPK to President Jokowi.

State Secretary Pratikno on Monday (11/7/2022) confirmed Pintauli’s letter and the presidential decree. “The contents of the letter itself cannot be disclosed. But [the letter] concerns her resignation,” said Pratikno, who refrained from further revealing Pintauli’s reason for her resignation from the KPK.

According to Pratikno, the President will propose Pintauli’s replacement to the House of Representatives. She will be replaced by one of the five candidates who were not selected by the House for the KPK leadership in 2019, as long as they still meet the requirements. The five candidates for the KPK leadership were Sigit Danang Joyo, Luthfi Jayadi, I Nyoman Wara, Johanis Tanak and Roby Arya Brata.

Also read:

> Carelessness in Fighting Corruption

> Score in Corruption Index Falls, Alarm bells ring for Corruption Eradication

Pintauli’s replacement will be proposed once the House recess period ends in mid-August.

The discontinuation of the ethics trial has kept the ethics breach case -- where Pintauli allegedly accepted bribes -- under wraps.

Changes to the agenda

Yesterday, an ethics trial was held with the agenda of examining Pintauli as a suspect. The trial, which was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., was then pushed back to 12 p.m. with a change to the agenda. The trial no longer sought to examine Pintauli but was a reading of the ethics council’s verdict.

During the trial, Pintauli stated that she had submitted a letter of resignation to President Jokowi.

After the ethics council’s verdict was read out, KPK supervisory council chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said that the ethics council received information regarding Pintauli’s resignation once the trial began. During the trial, Pintauli stated that she had submitted a letter of resignation to President Jokowi. The President also issued a presidential decree regarding Pintauli’s dismissal as of 11 July 2022.

Based on that, the ethics council, consisting of five members of the KPK supervisory council, decided to discontinue the ethics trial on Pintauli’s alleged ethics-code violation.

The ethics trial was held after the KPK supervisory council received reports that Pintauli allegedly accepted bribes from a state-owned company. The bribes were in the form of accommodation and tickets to watch the MotoGP event in Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara.

Once the verdict was made, Pintauli did not have much to say. She only thanked them and accepted the KPK ethics council’s verdict. Pintauli then immediately left the old KPK building with her vehicle, which was parked in the basement.

Albertina Ho, a member of the ethics council, explained that the council did not immediately halt its examination of Pintauli’s alleged ethics breach. However, the case was dropped because as of 12 July, Pintauli was no longer a KPK commissioner, and no longer met the prerequisites.

“So, it wasn’t that we stopped examining the case but that it was dismissed. Because the case was dismissed, we discontinued the trial,” said Albertina.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Janitors clean the main lobby of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building in Jakarta on Monday, June 18, 2018.

Tumpak emphasized that because Pintauli was no longer a member of the KPK, the ethics council could no longer continue the trial. This is because the ethics trial does not recognize a trial in absentia. Additionally, the ethics council also dismissed the case for reasons of efficiency. If the trial were to continue, the maximum penalty that can be imposed is a recommendation to resign. In this case, Pintauli had already resigned voluntarily. That was what the ethics council considered.

According to Firli, Pintauli’s resignation is in accordance with Article 33 of the KPK Law. He said that the President will propose a replacement candidate to the members of the House. The replacement will be one of the candidates who were not selected by the House for the KPK leadership if they still meet the requirements. The replacement will carry out the remaining term of office of the KPK leadership.

Firli then urged the public to refrain from bribing the KPK leadership, its supervisory council as well as its employees.

Justification

Constitutional law lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Zainal Arifin Mochtar, argued that dismissing Pintauli’s ethics case because she was no longer a member of the KPK was legally correct. However, in his perspective, the KPK supervisory council passed up an opportunity to showcase its commitments to upholding ethics.

The ethical process could still be carried out even though the suspect had resigned. However, once the ethics trial was discontinued, it seemed as though Pintauli’s ethics violation was justified. “Actually, even though Pintauli resigned, there should still have been a final review [of her ethics violation] by the supervisory council,” said Zainal.

This would have shown the public that Pintauli’s ethics breach could not be justified.

Ideally, Zainal continued, the KPK supervisory council should have been more serious about upholding ethics to show that Pintauli’s unethical actions came with sanctions. This would have shown the public that Pintauli’s ethics breach could not be justified. “Their decision to dismiss the ethics case can now be seen as a standard for fleeing from responsibility,” he said.

Praswad Nugraha, a former KPK investigator and member of the IM57+ Institute, added that the way Pintauli behaved was discourteous. It would set a bad precedent for all KPK employees.

Separately, a researcher from the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) legal division, Kurnia Ramadhana, expressed disappointment over the KPK’s decision to dismiss Pintauli’s ethics case. Kurnia is of the opinion that Presidential Decree No. 71/P/2022 should not have been used as an excuse to discontinue the ethics trial conducted by the supervisory council.

Regarding Pintauli’s replacement, House Commission III deputy chairman Adies Kadir of the Golkar faction said that the government will be the one to select the candidate. The government will propose a candidate to the House and the House will then conduct a fit and proper test. The candidate will be chosen from the five names that were previously proposed for the KPK leadership but were not selected, provided that they still meet the statutory requirements. (DEA/BOW/HAR)

(This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia)