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)