House starts screening corruption-busting aspirants

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Six candidates for appointment to the long-awaited Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) boasted of their skills, courage and honesty on Monday during a selection hearing with the House of Representatives, and proclaimed their eminent suitability to be drafted into the war against corruption.

The six were among 10 candidates to be examined by the House's legal and home affairs commission. Four others will be examined on Tuesday. Each candidate was questioned for 45 minutes.

M. Yamin, a prosecutor for over 30 years, said that he would prioritize the stamping out of bribery.

Yamin promised not to make any deals with third parties, and would investigate and prosecute high profile misuses of state budget funds. He also said that he would not hesitate to investigate his previous superiors.

Forty-seven out of 61 legislators attended the hearing on Monday. Some of them, including legislator Setya Novanto, did not ask any questions of the candidates. Many of the legislators were seen leaving the committee room on various occasions for periods of more than 15 minutes.

Another aspirant, Chairul Imam, a prosecutor-turned-member of the Public Servants Wealth Audit Commission, vowed that he would ensure the KPK would follow up on corruption cases involving state officials whose prosecution has been delayed as the president had yet to give her consent to the police or prosecutors to investigate.

He said he would not hesitate to resign from the KPK if other state officials or individuals managed to interfere with the commission.

Former cabinet secretary Marsillam Simanjuntak, who was also questioned on Monday, said that he hoped he could get involved in reforming law enforcement, which was currently riddled with corruption.

Lawyer-cum-activist Iskandar Sonhadji, another candidate, told legislators that he expected to improve networking with other institutions here and abroad to help the country eradicate corruption.

Another hopeful, Taufikurrahman Ruki, said he would prioritize corruption eradication in the public service, law enforcement institutions and business.

Despite the fact that they often joked with Ruki, legislators failed to question the former police officer, who once served as a legislator with the military/police faction, over his reported close relations with notorious businessmen in Malang, East Java.

The House earlier obtained a report from a watchdog group saying that Ruki, the former Malang Police chief, had abused his powers by protecting the businessmen, which were being investigated for running illegal businesses.

Meanwhile, Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, the fifth candidate, defended the Attorney General's Office when a legislator said that the AGO had shown no willingness to eradicate corruption.

"We have brought many cases to court. But we and the courts often have different perceptions on corruption that lead to the acquittal of the defendants," said the former prosecutor.

Panggabean, who is supported by Attorney General M.A. Rachman for the KPK post, asserted that he would have to coordinate with police and prosecutors when asked whether he would take over prosecutions and investigations from the police and prosecutors.

Rachman has been reported by the KPKPN to the police over alleged inaccuracies in his wealth declaration. The police have yet to investigate his case as they are still awaiting approval for such an investigation from the President.

Several legislators questioned him about the fact that his daughter had recently landed a job with the Central Jakarta District Court.

Before the members of the legal and home affairs commission, each of the candidates signed a document declaring that the information he had given during the hearing was true, and that he had never committed any acts of collusion, corruption, nepotism or misconduct in his previous employment.

The document also stipulated that the candidates must resign from their KPK posts should they be proven to have lied to the House.

Legislators are slated to select five out of the 10 candidates for the KPK executive on Tuesday. President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expected to establish the KPK on Dec. 27.

The KPK is referred to as a super body based on its authority to prosecute and investigate high profile corruption cases. It also has the power to take over corruption cases from the police and prosecutors.