Megawati approves establishments of KPK, KPI

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.