Corruption eradication has never escaped as an important topic in Indonesia. In the vision and mission of each presidential and vice presidential candidate, corruption eradication programs are always mentioned. This is reinforced by Indonesia’s corruption perception index in 2023 which turned out to be on the spot. The score is the same as in 2022, namely 34. Apparently, corruption eradication is still a big homework for Indonesia.
The 2024 presidential election is the right moment for the Indonesian people to entrust the relay of eradicating corruption to the elected president and vice president. For this reason, KEMITRAAN in collaboration with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) held a discussion with a number of civil society organizations at the KPK Anti-Corruption Learning Center Building, Kuningan, Jakarta, on Thursday (1/2/2024).
At the discussion, civil society organizations submitted a number of proposals to strengthen corruption eradication. Among them is revising the KPK Law to restore the KPK’s independence.
“Because the previous KPK Law has been considered a best practice by the international community,” said KEMITRAAN Executive Director Laode M. Syarif in the discussion.
Then, they also asked the presidential and vice presidential candidates who would later be elected to revise the Corruption Crime Law (Tipikor) to comply with the provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). This is because the current Anti-Corruption Law does not include the handling of private sector corruption), efforts to enrich themselves illegally or illicit enrichment, the existence of wealth whose origin cannot be explained, and bribery of international public officials.
In addition, civil society organizations also proposed increased cooperation with the KPK and in efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption, as well as anti-corruption education. The design of corruption prevention and eradication programs was also requested to be more comprehensive, especially in dealing with corruption in the natural resources sector, law enforcement agencies, taxation, customs, and State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN).
Then the civil society organizations present also urged strengthening the eradication of corruption in the political sector, especially corruption in political parties and regional to central parliaments.
“It is also important to regulate conflicts of interest and nepotism,” said the Secretary General of Transparency International Indonesia who was also present at the event.
During the discussion, the KPK also expressed its views and hopes. Among other things, the KPK wants an Asset Forfeiture Law to support corruption eradication efforts. KPK also wants the selection of KPK leaders and supervisory board to be transparent and accountable. It is hoped that a transparent and accountable process can produce KPK leaders and supervisors with integrity.
In addition, KPK also wants good communication and coordination among law enforcers, especially in handling corruption cases.
“In addition, we also hope that there will be regulations for limiting cash transactions and making regulations for regulating conflicts of interest,” said KPK Deputy for Prevention and Monitoring Pahala Nainggolan at the discussion.
The discussion also invited representatives of the presidential and vice presidential winning teams. The Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar winning team was represented by Bambang Widjojanto. Meanwhile, the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka Winning Team was represented by Fritz Edward Siregar. Then, the Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD winning team was represented by Todung Mulya Lubis. The three representatives of the presidential and vice presidential winning teams also agreed to strengthen the eradication of corruption, especially corruption in the political sector.
