New body for auditing state officials' wealth

New body for auditing state officials' wealth

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives will propose the
establishment of a 45-member commission to audit the wealth of
state officials.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said here on Monday that the
commission would have one chairman, four deputy chairmen and 40
members tasked with auditing officials from state institutions
and state-owned companies.

"The commission will also announce the wealth of state
officials before and after assuming their jobs," he said after
consultations between the House and faction leadership.

He said the House would choose 45 out of 122 names comprised
of community figures and professionals who were proposed by the
government on Jan. 6.

"The House will first establish criteria for membership on the
commission before conducting the selection," he said.

The 1999 Law on Clean Governance stipulates the establishment
of an independent commission with at least 25 members to audit
the wealth of state officials. The commission should be approved
by the House before being sworn in by the President.

Akbar said high moral integrity and skill in accountancy and
legal matters were important criteria for selection.

"We also agreed in the meeting that the commission members
should be people who have never been involved in corruption
cases," he added.

The commission will have four subcommissions with 10 members
each. The subcommissions will be charged with handling individual
duties related to the audit.

Akbar said the House leadership meeting also agreed with the
government's proposal to dissolve the General Election Commission
(KPU) and replace it with a a smaller one comprised of nine
members.

He said the House would amend the 1999 law on general
elections to allow the government to dissolve the election
commission and establish a new one.

"The planned establishment of a new election commission is
based on the State Policy Guidelines (GBHN) stipulating that the
next election should be run by an independent and professional
commission to uphold democracy," he said.

He said the new election commission would be set up
immediately so that it could organize the planned local elections
in newly developed provinces and regencies. (rms)