Megawati urged to replace Attorney General

Megawati urged to replace Attorney General

The Jakarta Post, A'an Suryana

The prolonged graft investigation implicating Attorney General
M.A. Rachman has caused Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration
to lose credibility in fighting graft, and therefore, the
President should remove him from government.

Noted anticorruption activist Teten Masduki warned Megawati
that the investigation against Rachman would drag on, and that it
would cost her credibility.

"Rachman has become a liability for Megawati's government.
It's better for her to replace him," Teten Masduki, the
coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), told The
Jakarta Post.

The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) is
currently investigating Rachman, who had concealed his assets in
his report to the agency. Among the assets he concealed was a
luxury house in Cinere, Depok.

The case has drawn public criticism as Rachman, as one of the
highest law enforcers in the country, is responsible for rooting
out corruption in the country.

"If the person who is at the front line of the anticorruption
movement is suspected of being corrupt, how can you expect that
he will fight against corruption?" Teten said. It was therefore
not surprising, he continued, if Rachman was unable to make any
headway in prosecuting corruption cases.

He urged KPKPN to investigate how Rachman purchased the Rp 5
billion (US$543,000) house to establish whether Rachman had
committed corruption or not.

The KPKPN has vowed to complete the investigation implicating
M.A. Rachman before Idul Fitri this year.

KPKPN has also surprised the public by attacking not only
Rachman, but also several legislators and other public officials
who refused to report their wealth and assets to the agency, as
required by law. In doing so, KPKPN quickly became the enemy of
many influential people.

Even the chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) at the House of Representatives, Roy B.
Janis, has accused KPKPN of trespassing its authority.

According to Janis, the commission's authority should be
confined only to compiling an inventory of public servants'
wealth, and not going so far as to investigate corruption cases.

"It is the police who have the authority to investigate
criminal and corruption cases," said Janis, adding that in the
Rachman case, it was the police, and not KPKPN, who had the
authority to investigate the attorney general.

Attacks against KPKPN also came from legislators, who chided
33 KPKPN members in accepting credit from the government to buy
cars. A government loan of Rp 70 million has been allotted to
each KPKPN member to purchase a car.

"I question why, in this time of crisis, the commission
members accepted the credit facility. They should remember the
people who live in poverty," said Susono Yusuf of the National
Awakening Party (PKB) at a discussion on Friday.

Coordinator of Government Watch (Gowa) Farid R. Faqih
suggested that the commission members return the money to the
state because the credit facility was more or less a bribe, and
it would affect the commission's performance.

Meanwhile, KPKPN chairman Jusuf Syakir, admitting to receiving
the credit, contended that the loans would not affect KPKPN's
work and would even enhance their capability.

In addition, he pledged that his commission would improve its
performance as a result.

"Becoming the target of criticism has made me more
enthusiastic in improving the commission's performance," Jusuf
said.