A string of House of Representatives (DPR) members have levelled\ncriticism at seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo\nover his claim that he rejected the 2019 revision of the Corruption\nEradication Commission (KPK) Law by not signing it. Jokowi also voiced\nsupport for revising the KPK Law back to its original version.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers assessed Jokowi\u2019s statement as an attempt to \u201cwash his\nhands\u201d and shirk responsibility in order to preserve his image.<\/p>\n
Jokowi\u2019s remarks were made in response to a proposal by former KPK\nChairman Abraham Samad to revise the KPK Law once more.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, the revision was initiated by the DPR. But I never\nsigned it,\u201d Jokowi said after watching Persis Solo play against Madura\nUnited at Manahan Stadium in Solo on Friday (13 February).<\/p>\n
PKB Says Jokowi\u2019s Statement Is Inaccurate<\/strong><\/p>\n Commission III member from PKB, Abdullah, deemed Jokowi\u2019s statement\ninaccurate. Although the former president did not sign the bill, he sent\nhis representative to deliberate on the KPK Bill with the DPR.<\/p>\n Therefore, said Abduh \u2014 as he is known \u2014 despite not signing, Jokowi\nindirectly still supported the bill.<\/p>\n Referring to Article 20 Paragraph 5 of the 1945 Constitution, a law\nremains valid 30 days after being ratified by the DPR, with or without\nthe President\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he did not sign the latest KPK Law has no effect\nwhatsoever,\u201d Abduh said when contacted on Sunday (15 February).<\/p>\n DPR Deputy Speaker from PKB, Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, stated that\nlawmaking in the DPR cannot proceed without a Presidential Letter\n(Surpres), which contains the assignment of government representatives\nto deliberate on a bill.<\/p>\n \u201cThe public is astute enough to understand \u2014 he was the President,\u201d\nCucun said after attending a coordination meeting with the government on\nthe Sumatra disaster at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on\nWednesday (18 February).<\/p>\n NasDem Says Jokowi Was Not Serious<\/strong><\/p>\n DPR Deputy Speaker from NasDem, Saan Mustopa, assessed that Jokowi\nwas not genuinely serious about rejecting the 2019 KPK Bill.<\/p>\n The fact is, Saan said, Jokowi did nothing to restore the KPK Law to\nits original version while still in office. He also disagreed with the\nnotion that Jokowi opposed the bill, given that the government sent its\nrepresentative to deliberate it with the DPR.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he wanted to restore the old version, why didn\u2019t he do it while\nstill in office?\u201d Saan said at the parliamentary complex on Thursday (19\nFebruary).<\/p>\n PAN Says Jokowi Was the Initiator of the\nRevision<\/strong><\/p>\n Commission III member from the PAN faction, Syarifuddin Sudding,\nrevealed that the Presidential Palace under the seventh President was\nthe initiator behind the proposed revision of the KPK Law in 2019.<\/p>\n However, according to Sudding, the Palace at the time requested that\nthe KPK Bill be presented as a DPR initiative. Sudding said he knew the\nprocess from the outset as a member of Commission III during the\n2014\u20132019 term.<\/p>\n He urged Jokowi to stop constantly protecting his image. Sudding went\nso far as to call Jokowi the \u201cintellectual actor\u201d behind the KPK Law\nrevision.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, if we trace it back \u2014 in legal terms, the intellectual\ndader of the KPK Law revision was actually Jokowi,\u201d Sudding said when\ncontacted on Thursday (19 February).<\/p>\n PDIP Says Jokowi Cannot Wash His Hands<\/strong><\/p>\n Commission III member from PDIP, Aria Bima, said Jokowi cannot\ndistance himself from the 2019 KPK Bill.<\/p>\n According to Bimo \u2014 as he is known \u2014 Jokowi remains a former\npresident and therefore still bears responsibility. However, Bimo\nopposed revising the bill again.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the seventh, sixth, or fifth president \u2014 I think there is still\nresponsibility. As a private individual, no, but as a president, a\nformer president, yes,\u201d Bima said at the parliamentary complex in\nJakarta on Thursday (19 February).<\/p>\n Demokrat Says Jokowi Could Have Issued a Perppu<\/strong><\/p>\n Former Commission III member Didik Mukrianto criticised Jokowi and\ndeemed his claim of rejecting the KPK Bill at the time as not\nserious.<\/p>\n According to him, Jokowi could have issued a Government Regulation in\nLieu of Law (Perppu) to annul the revision, but chose not to do so.<\/p>\n Didik was a Commission III member during the 2014\u20132019 term who was\ninvolved in the drafting of the KPK Bill.<\/p>\n \u201cMr Jokowi could have issued a Perppu if he disagreed, but that\noption was never exercised,\u201d Didik said when contacted on Friday (20\nFebruary).<\/p>\n PKS Calls Jokowi\u2019s Claim Far-Fetched<\/strong><\/p>\n Commission III member from the PKS faction, Nasir Djamil, said\nJokowi\u2019s claim of rejecting the 2019 KPK Law revision by not signing it\nwas far-fetched.<\/p>\n Nasir said legislative revisions, including the KPK Bill at the time,\ncould not be carried out without the agreement of both the DPR and the\ngovernment.<\/p>\n He said he could not comprehend the intent behind the former PDIP\npolitician\u2019s statement. According to him, a president should not regret\nhis decisions after the fact. Such regret should only apply to ordinary\ncitizens, not the government, let alone a President.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what Mr Jokowi has said really seems like something quite\nfar-fetched,\u201d Nasir said in the South Jakarta area on Friday (20\nFebruary).<\/p>\n Controversial Points of the KPK Bill<\/strong><\/p>\n The KPK noted at least 26 controversial points in the revision of the\nKPK Law at the time, which were deemed to weaken anti-corruption\nefforts.<\/p>\n Among them was the undermining of KPK independence by placing the\ncommission as a state institution within the executive branch and making\nKPK employees civil servants.<\/p>\n Additionally, the provision designating KPK leaders as the highest\nauthority was removed. In its place, the Supervisory Board was given\ngreater power than the KPK leadership, as stipulated in the third\npoint.<\/p>\n Furthermore, wiretapping capabilities were curtailed. There are at\nleast six stages of wiretapping approval \u2014 starting from the\ninvestigator, task force head, Director of Investigation, Deputy for\nEnforcement, the leadership, and the Supervisory Board \u2014 before a case\nreview can even be conducted.<\/p>\n Wiretapping was considered to have become more difficult due to the\nadded layers of bureaucracy.<\/p>",
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