Megawati approves establishments of KPK, KPI
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed on Friday two decrees, one on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and another on the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), allowing the new institutions to commence their work.
"The president signed the decrees today," Erman Radjagukguk, deputy secretary of the Cabinet Secretary, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Through the Presidential Decree on KPK, Megawati installed five commission members recently elected by the House of Representatives.
The five -- Taufiequrachman Ruki, Amien Sunaryadi, Sjahruddin Rasul, Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean and Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas -- will serve a four-year term from 2003 to 2007.
At the same time, the President endorsed the nine elected members of the KPI -- Victor Menayang, Sasa Djuarsa Sendjaja, Andrik Purwasito, Ilya R. Sunarwinadi, Ade Armando, Amelia Hezkasari Day, S. Sinansari Ecip, Bimo Nugroho Sekundatmo and Dedi Iskandar Muda.
They will be in their posts for three years from 2003 to 2006. Under the existing law, the KPI plays an important role in monitoring and maintaining the quality standard of broadcasting.
Law No. 30/2002 on KPK required the commission to be established by Dec. 27, one year after its enactment.
However, Megawati is not scheduled to swear in the five members of the KPK on Saturday.
Normally, such official institutions are inaugurated by the President immediately after the issuance of its decree.
Erry, a KPK member, confirmed that he and his four colleagues had received no invitations for an official ceremony to mark the establishment of their commission.
"But such a ceremony is not important to us," he said.
Asep Rahmat Fajar of the Judiciary Observer Coalition, a non- governmental organization, commented that the president should install the KPK members to inform the public about the legal existence of the commission, tasked with combating the nation's rampant corruption.
"It might be only a ceremony, but it is very important to let the public know about the government's seriousness about fighting corruption," he said.
Public skepticism grew over the future KPK's function and efficiency after House Commission II for legal and home affairs voted against several preferred candidates, including Marsillam Simanjuntak and Bambang Widjojanto.
Doubts increased after the House elected Ruki, a retired police officer, to head the commission.
Analysts have also questioned why Commission II had elected Panggabean as a KPK member, as he had failed the integrity test conducted by the same team for a Supreme Court justice slot early this year.
Ruki asked the people not to underestimate his selection and vowed not to hesitate in investigating and prosecuting high- ranking state officials, including police and prosecutors, accused of graft.
The KPK is dubbed a "super body", as it is vested with the authority to charge and prosecute suspected corrupters, powers currently held by the National Police and state prosecutors.
The commission is also empowered to take over corruption cases from police and prosecutors.
Only those corruption cases involving at least Rp 1 billion (US$117,647) in financial losses come under the jurisdiction of the KPK.
Corruption has become widespread among all levels of government -- central and regional, as well as throughout the civil service corps -- during the reform era following the fall of authoritarian leader Soeharto in 1998. Many have taken this to be a sign that the reform movement had failed, saying that at least under Soeharto, corruption was restricted to the uppermost echelon.
Indonesia was recently ranked a low 60 out of a total 102 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum in terms of business competitiveness.
According to the forum, rampant corruption and ineffective bureaucracy were the two decisive factors behind the country's low business competitiveness index.
The survey by Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) also ranked Indonesia as the sixth most corrupt country in the world with a Corruption Perception Index of 1.9, with the highest -- or cleanest -- score being 10.