JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The track records of the 20 candidates for the commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced by the selection committee on Friday have not met the people’s expectations.
According to civil society organizations, some of the names who were chosen to join the next selection stage were suspected to have “problems”. The selection committee for KPK leadership candidates should listen to the input from the people. At the same time, civil society organizations should also provide information about the candidates with adequate data.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is also expected to make sure that the elected candidates can maintain the KPK\'s spirit. The 20 names announced by the selection team were half the number of the people who took part the profile assessment test.
Four of the names who passed the profile assessment are senior members of the National Police, and there are also three active prosecutors and a retired prosecutor.
Alexander Marwata is the only KPK commissioner from the 2015-2019 period who passed the test. Another commissioner, Laode M. Sharif, did not qualify. Another KKP employee also did not pass.
The 10 candidates who passed comprise a judge, an advocate, three civil servants, three lecturers, a state-owned company employee and a minister\'s advisor.
The chairperson of the selection team, Yenti Garnasih, said that the 20 candidates for KPK leadership had gone through various selection stages, namely administrative selection, a competency test, a psychological test and a profile assessment. "The profile assessment is also based on their track records and information taken through tracking," she said.
Even though the selection has entered its final stage, the selection committee is still waiting for input related to the candidates’ track records. Written information from the public can be submitted no later than August 26, 2019.
Civil society criticism
Some civil society organizations criticized the results of the profile assessment test. The executive director of the Center for Law and Policy Studies, Gita Putri Damayana, said that the selection results were disappointing and could endanger the efforts to eradicate corruption in the future.
According to him, the input given by civil society organizations was ignored. The selection team was even defensive over the advice given by the people.
The chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, Asfinawati, who is also a member of the Save KPK coalition, said that a number of candidates had “problems”, yet they were still picked to advance to the next stage of the selection process.
In the midst of the disappointment, professor of criminal law at the University of Parahyangan, Agustinus Pohan, expressed hoped that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo would use his power in selecting the KPK leaders.
"The President is expected to pay more attention to the election of the commissioners in order to maintain the KPK\'s spirit, given there are names that clearly have problems with the KPK and personnel in the KPK. It is very risky for the KPK in the future," said Agustinus.
Meanwhile, a member of Commission III at the House of Representatives (DPR), Nasir Djamil, hoped that the 10 candidates for the KPK leadership posts who will be submitted to the DPR have the integrity that Jokowi wants.
According to Nasir, if the candidates who passed the selection test had a bad track record, the President would be the party that should take responsibility. (NTA/IAN/INK)