After more than two decades of their existence, the reputations of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Constitutional Court (MK) and The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) began to fade away.
By
YOHAN WAHYU
·6 minutes read
AYU NURFAIZAH UNTUK KOMPAS
Activities at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building, Jakarta, Tuesday (21/3/2023).
The Regional Representatives Council (DPD), the Constitutional Court (MK) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are three state institutions that were born as a result of the spirit of change brought about by the reform movement in 1998. Now, after more than two decades of their existence, their reputation is beginning to fade away.
The dimming of the prestige of the three institutions was found from the results of periodic face-to-face national surveys conducted by Kompas Research and Development in the last eight years. As a result, the decline in the image rating of the three institutions, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), the Constitutional Court (MK) or even the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are showing a decline in appreciation from the public.
The downward trend in the public appreciation can be seen from the results of the survey conducted during January 2015 and January 2023. The results of the two surveys show that the three institutions have experienced a decline in their image perception. The results are generated from a fundamental question: Are the images of these institutions good or bad in the eyes of the public?
Regarding the DPD's image, in the survey conducted in January 2015, there were 62.1 percent of respondents who gave a positive rating. In the January 2023 survey, the figure dropped to 52 percent. It is a 10.1-point decrease in percentage from the respondents who said the DPD had a good image.
The same thing happened to the MK. The survey conducted in January 2015 showed that 75.1 percent of the respondents said the MK, which is often identified as the guardian of the constitution, had a good image. In the survey conducted in January 2023, the figure fell to 52.1 percent. It shows the rating dropped by 23 points.
In the January 2023 survey, the KPK's good image rating dropped to 57.5 percent.
Similar to the DPD and the MK, the KPK was also born in the reform era and was the most phenomenal. The public appreciation for the anti-corruption agency reached its peak in the survey in January 2015, which showed 88.5 percent of respondents rated the KPK as having a good image. However, in the January 2023 survey, the KPK's good image rating dropped to 57.5 percent.
This condition confirms that there has been a sharp decline in public appreciation of the KPK. Its good image rating eroded by 31 points compared to the January 2015 survey. If compared with the DPD and MK, the good image rating of the KPK is still relatively high, but its decline is the steepest compared with the two state institutions.
ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA
Nine constitutional judges pose for a group photo after the plenary meeting for the election of the chairman and deputy chairman of the Constitutional Court for the 2023-2028 period at the Constitutional Court Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (15/3/2023).
Legal cases
The decline in the image of the three institutions, which are the biological children of the reform, cannot be separated from a number of legal cases and institutional polemics surrounding them. The legal cases mainly involve the leadership, which is the personification of the institution.
The outstanding legal case that involved the DPD institution was the arrest of its chairman, Irman Gusman by the KPK on Sept. 17, 2016. The KPK named Irman as a suspect in alleged bribery in handling imported sugar quotas. At that time, the deputy chairman of the DPD, Farouk Muhammad, said the case that involved Irman was a heavy blow to the DPD in the midst of the DPD's struggle to strengthen institutional authority (Kompas, 18/9/2016).
Not surprisingly, this case affected the public perception of the DPD. Based on the results of a Kompas survey in October 2016 or a month after Irman's arrest, the DPD's image rating dropped to 48.8 percent. In fact, previously, in April 2016, the figure was 53.7 percent. Its image rating declined again in the April 2017 survey to 41 percent, the lowest percentage experienced by the DPD in the last eight years.
Like the DPD, the MK has also been hit by a similar case. In 2013, MK chief justice Akil Mochtar was arrested at his official residence after accepting bribes to handle a regional election dispute in Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan, in addition to the legal case of other constitutional judges, such as Patrialis Akbar who was involved in a corruption case. Then there was Arief Hidayat, who while chief justice of the Constitutional Court, was given a mild ethical sanction in the form of a written warning. Apart from cases related to corruption and ethics, the public was shocked by the case of Constitutional justice Aswanto who was dismissed because he was deemed not in line with the DPR and annulled a number of laws.
It was not surprising that the survey showed a downward trend in MK's image in the public eye. The January 2023 Kompas survey recorded the image of the Constitutional Court at 52.1 percent, the lowest since this institution's image was measured in the last eight years.
Weakening
The KPK, which was formed through Law Number 30 of 2002 concerning the Corruption Eradication Commission, is also experiencing dynamics. At its inception, the KPK was like a tiger ready to pounce on corruptors, whoever they were. However, along the way, efforts to weaken the KPK occurred, starting from the "lizard-crocodile" case in 2009 until the revision of the KPK Law, which was passed in September 2019. As one of the impacts of the revision of the KPK Law, polemics arose about the national insight test of KPK employees, which appeared in public.
The results of the Kompas survey showed that over the past eight years, the lowest image of the KPK was recorded at 55.9 percent in the October 2022 period. The polemic over the transition of KPK employees and the emergence of cases of ethical violations that involved KPK commissioners has more or less made public appreciation for this institution falter.
At a certain point, the existence of the DPD, MK and KPK, which are the biological children of reform, of course, gives a special hope for efforts to improve this nation in the future. However, the trend of declining public appreciation of the three institutions should be a wake-up call for immediate reforms. The decline in the reputation of the three institutions in the public eye must become a trigger to return to action and gain the public's trust as it was when the three institutions were born. (Kompas Research and Development )
