Government, House agree on anticorruption commission

Government, House agree on anticorruption commission

JAKARTA (JP): The government and House of Representatives
(DPR) agreed on Thursday to establish within the next two years
an independent commission to eradicate corruption.

Minister of Justice Muladi said after attending a plenary
House session to endorse the bill on arbitration that the
agreement was reached to meet the increasing public demand.

"The commission will be only formed in the next two years to
give the government time to prepare. We need two years to conduct
a comparative study on job description and performance of other
such commissions in countries abroad," Muladi said.

It is expected to take the government another six months to
promote the law, the minister said.

At the plenary session, the House unanimously passed the bill
on arbitration into law and started deliberating the media bill.

Former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, who chairs the
Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI), urged the government on
Tuesday to immediately set up the commission.

He said a tight recruitment should be applied to place the
right people in the commission.

Muladi said the independent commission would comprise National
Police and Indonesian Military personnel, attorneys, law experts
and accountants.

"The commission will have a subcommission in charge of
investigation which will be handled by the Police and others
dealing with prosecution, which will involve prosecutors," he
said.

He said the commission members would be selected by the House,
and must be approved by the President as the head of state.

"But, it remains undecided whether to place the commission
under supervision of the President or the House." Muladi said,
adding that the government would learn from other countries which
have already set up such a commission.

The minister said the government would revise the 1991 law on
law governing attorneys and the 1970 law on military tribunals to
give the commission full authority in handling corruptions
involving both civilians and servicemen.

"With the amendment, both the Attorney General's Office and
the Military Tribunal will no longer have the authority to
prosecute people charged with corruption," he said.

The commission will cooperate with the National Police and the
Attorney General's Office in handling complicated cases, added
Muladi.

Asked about the investigation into the former first family's
alleged corruption, Muladi said he wrote to the Austrian and
Swiss governments through their embassies in Jakarta, asking them
to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the Soehartos' and the
former president's friends' alleged fortunes in those two
countries.

He said the letters also authorized the two governments to
examine deposits with significant amounts belonging to other
Indonesians.

Selection of local and foreign private detectives to
investigate the Soehartos' wealth is still underway, according to
Muladi.(rms)